A 32-year-old Wilmington man will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole after his conviction Monday for Murder First Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited.

A Superior Court jury convicted Hakiem Anderson of the August 2015 killing of 32-year-old Markevis Clark. Wilmington Police officers on patrol in the city heard gunshots, then received reports of a shooting in the 800 block of Vandever Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Clark lying in the street, unresponsive and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.

Police named Anderson as their primary suspect a few days after the shooting and issued a warrant for his arrest. Anderson turned himself in to Wilmington Police in September 2015.

“The diligent work of the Department of Justice and Wilmington Police have combined to take a cold-blooded killer off the streets,” said Attorney General Matt Denn. “I want to thank Deputy Attorneys General Jamie McCloskey and Jan van Amerongen who prosecuted the case. I also want to commend Detective Pete Leccia from WPD, and Paralegal Stacey Coupe and Investigator John Ciritella from our office, who worked to uncover and allow prosecutors to introduce evidence of witness tampering by monitoring Anderson’s prison phone calls.”

Anderson, barred from having a firearm because of previous drug and assault convictions, faces sentencing by a Superior Court judge later this year.

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