Killing of Hockessin Man Resolved With Guilty Plea

Benjamin Rauf, the New York man charged with the 2015 killing of a Hockessin man found shot in his car, has pled guilty to the fatal shooting.

Rauf, 29, of Westerlo, NY pled guilty yesterday to Manslaughter and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the shooting death of 25-year-old Shazim Uppal.

In August 2015, Uppal, a law school classmate of Rauf, was found dead after being shot multiple times while sitting in his parked car on Saint Claire Drive in Hockessin.

A Superior Court judge will sentence Rauf later this month to between 5 and 50 years in prison. Deputy Attorneys General Brian Robertson, Cari Chapman, and Matthew Keating secured the plea, with assistance from paralegals Kim Moro and Kelly Drzymalski. Retired New Castle County Police detective John Ziemba was the Chief Investigating Officer.