Other defendants convicted on murder, manslaughter, weapons, and drug charges

Three men at the helm of a massive drug dealing enterprise were sentenced to prison in Superior Court. Dwayne White, 36, of Wilmington, Eric Lloyd, 40, of New Castle, and Damon Anderson, 40, were convicted of numerous charges in June for their roles in the organization. An investigation into the enterprise from early 2015 through the fall of 2017 led to indictments on charges including racketeering, money laundering, tax evasion, witness intimidation and drug dealing.

• Dwayne White – Guilty of Criminal Racketeering, Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, 2 counts of Conspiracy First Degree (for conspiring to commit a murder), Drug Dealing Heroin (Tier 4 or higher), Drug Dealing Cocaine (Tier 4 or higher), 8 Counts of Conspiracy Second Degree, Aggravated Possession of Heroin (Tier 5 or higher), Money Laundering, Criminal Solicitation First Degree, Aggravated Act of Intimidation, Bribing a Witness, Attempt to Evade Taxes, and Tampering With Physical Evidence, sentenced to 54 years in prison plus probation.
• Eric Lloyd – Guilty of Criminal Racketeering, Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, Money Laundering, Attempt to Evade Taxes, and 2 Counts of Conspiracy Second Degree, sentenced to 30 years in prison plus probation.
• Damon Anderson – Guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, 2 counts of Drug Dealing Tier 4, Money Laundering, and Attempt to Evade Taxes, sentenced to 25 years plus probation.

Deputy Attorneys General Mark Denney, Erika Flaschner and Jamie McCloskey prosecuted the cases, all of which were investigated by Wilmington Police Department Sgt. Steven Barnes, FBI Special Agent Shawn Haney, WPD Det. Devon Jones, the members of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and managed by multiple staff at the Delaware Dept. of Justice including Shanaya Eyong, Donna Lindsey and David Crist.

A 20-year-old has pleaded guilty to the murder of an 18-year-old on the streets of Wilmington. In January 2018, Andre Fletcher-Hargrow, of Wilmington, chased his victim, Zahviaire Berry-Shivers, of Wilmington, down the 2300 block of Pine Street, shooting repeatedly as they ran. Berry-Shivers was taken to Wilmington Hospital where he died a short time later. U.S. Marshals located Fletcher-Hargrow in Upper Darby, PA 6 months later. Fletcher-Hargrow pleaded guilty to Murder Second Degree and will be sentenced by a Superior Court judge in January. Deputy Attorneys General Annemarie Puit and Kelly Sheridan prosecuted the case with assistance from paralegals Lisa Loikith and Jaime Prater, social worker Claudia Melton, and special investigator Brian Daly.

One of the two people charged with the 2018 murder of a Laurel man has pleaded guilty. Deputy Attorneys General Caroline Brittingham and Nichole Gannett secured the plea from Traevon Dixon, 22, of Laurel. In September 2018, the body of Isaac Hatton, 19, was found on the bank of a pond near Portsville Road in Laurel. Hatton had been fatally shot. An investigation led State Police to identify Dixon as a suspect. Dixon pleaded guilty to Murder Second Degree and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. A Superior Court judge will sentence Dixon after the trial of his co-defendant Jerry Reed, 27, of Greenwood. Reed, who turned himself into police a week after Hatton’s body was found, faces charges of Murder First Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Conspiracy First Degree, and Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited. Social workers Laurel Braunstein and Monserrat Matos assisted with the case, which was investigated by Detective Mark Csapo and the Delaware State Police Homicide Unit.

A Wilmington woman who caused a head-on collision while driving in the wrong direction on Route 1 near the Roth Bridge was sentenced to prison. In May 2018, Melanie Heath, 25, was driving over 90 miles per hour southbound in the northbound lane when she collided with a car killing a 41-year-old man who was a passenger in the other car and seriously injuring the driver. In June, Heath pleaded guilty to Manslaughter, Assault First Degree, Reckless Endangering First Degree, Driving Under the Influence, and Speeding. A Superior Court judge sentenced Heath to 9 years in prison, followed by 6 months of either home confinement or work release, then 2 years of probation. Heath must also complete a DUI Course of Instruction. Deputy Attorney General Barzilai Axelrod prosecuted the case with assistance from social worker Kristen Fluharty-Emory and paralegal Jaevan Owens. Corporal John Breen of the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit was the chief investigating officer.

A traffic stop led to a guilty plea and prison sentence for a Seaford man who had drugs and a gun in his car. In February 2019, a Delaware State Trooper stopped a car driven by Stephon Hammond, 24, on Concord Pond Road in Seaford for illegally passing over a solid yellow line. When the trooper asked Hammond for his license, the trooper noticed multiple bundles of heroin fall from Hammond’s sweatshirt pocket. A search of the vehicle yielded a total of 390 bags of heroin and a loaded semi-automatic Glock 19 handgun. Hammond pleaded guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited and Drug Dealing Tier 2. Hammond, barred from having a gun because of previous felony convictions and juvenile adjudications, was immediately sentenced by a Superior Court judge to 5 years in prison, followed by 1 year of home confinement, then 18 months of probation with GPS monitoring. Deputy Attorney General Georgia Pham prosecuted the case.

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