Delaware News

Attorney General Biden Announces Indictments in Two Wilmington Shooting Deaths

Department of Justice | Date Posted: Tuesday, July 3, 2012



Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden, joined by Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba, State Prosecutor Kathleen Jennings, and other police officers today announced the indictments of two Wilmington defendants for the deaths of two victims and the wounding of three others in separate shooting incidents over the past six weeks.

“I would like to thank the hard work of the Wilmington Police Department and my staff, as well as others in the community for working together to quickly identify, arrest, and indict these defendants,” Biden said. 

Yesterday Biden’s office secured murder indictments against 17 year-old Daiquan Reams, charged with the May 19 shooting that killed Tamekia Kearney and wounded two others in Kosciuszko Park.  He has been charged with:
• One count of First Degree Murder
• Two counts of Attempted Murder
• Three counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony
• One count of Possession of a Deadly Weapon By a Person Prohibited

Reams has been in custody since May 29, when he was arrested for violating the terms of his probation for an earlier offense.

An indictment was also handed down yesterday against 28 year-old Lee Turner for the June 17 shooting death of 15 year-old Naj’m Hickmond in an alley off of West Fourth Street.  In that crime, Turner is also charged with seriously wounding a 12 year-old boy who is still recovering from the attack.  Turner, who was arrested by Wilmington Police last week, has been indicted on the following charges:
• One count of First Degree Murder
• One count of Attempted Murder
• Two counts of Possession of a Firearm By a Person Prohibited
• Two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony

“I join with the Attorney General’s Office and the men and women of the Wilmington Police Department in expressing sympathy to the families involved in these cases; at the same time, I pledge to these families that the WPD will continue to do everything it can to see that justice prevails,” said Chief Szczerba.

Biden and Szczerba applauded City residents who came forward with information in the days and weeks after these crimes, emphasizing that the arrests and indictments occurred as a result of community input, along with the close work between the Wilmington Police and prosecutors, who routinely respond to the scene and work directly with police throughout investigations.   They stressed that information from community members who witness a crime is critically important to help investigators understand when a crime happened and how it occurred.  Getting that information – the when, where, how, who – can make all the difference in getting the bad guys off the streets quickly.  Even small pieces of information, such as a description of a car driving away, a license plate, or a description of a pedestrian in the area, could be the key piece of information needed to identify a suspect, make an arrest, and get a conviction. 

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Attorney General Biden Announces Indictments in Two Wilmington Shooting Deaths

Department of Justice | Date Posted: Tuesday, July 3, 2012



Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden, joined by Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba, State Prosecutor Kathleen Jennings, and other police officers today announced the indictments of two Wilmington defendants for the deaths of two victims and the wounding of three others in separate shooting incidents over the past six weeks.

“I would like to thank the hard work of the Wilmington Police Department and my staff, as well as others in the community for working together to quickly identify, arrest, and indict these defendants,” Biden said. 

Yesterday Biden’s office secured murder indictments against 17 year-old Daiquan Reams, charged with the May 19 shooting that killed Tamekia Kearney and wounded two others in Kosciuszko Park.  He has been charged with:
• One count of First Degree Murder
• Two counts of Attempted Murder
• Three counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony
• One count of Possession of a Deadly Weapon By a Person Prohibited

Reams has been in custody since May 29, when he was arrested for violating the terms of his probation for an earlier offense.

An indictment was also handed down yesterday against 28 year-old Lee Turner for the June 17 shooting death of 15 year-old Naj’m Hickmond in an alley off of West Fourth Street.  In that crime, Turner is also charged with seriously wounding a 12 year-old boy who is still recovering from the attack.  Turner, who was arrested by Wilmington Police last week, has been indicted on the following charges:
• One count of First Degree Murder
• One count of Attempted Murder
• Two counts of Possession of a Firearm By a Person Prohibited
• Two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony

“I join with the Attorney General’s Office and the men and women of the Wilmington Police Department in expressing sympathy to the families involved in these cases; at the same time, I pledge to these families that the WPD will continue to do everything it can to see that justice prevails,” said Chief Szczerba.

Biden and Szczerba applauded City residents who came forward with information in the days and weeks after these crimes, emphasizing that the arrests and indictments occurred as a result of community input, along with the close work between the Wilmington Police and prosecutors, who routinely respond to the scene and work directly with police throughout investigations.   They stressed that information from community members who witness a crime is critically important to help investigators understand when a crime happened and how it occurred.  Getting that information – the when, where, how, who – can make all the difference in getting the bad guys off the streets quickly.  Even small pieces of information, such as a description of a car driving away, a license plate, or a description of a pedestrian in the area, could be the key piece of information needed to identify a suspect, make an arrest, and get a conviction. 

# # #

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.