Guilty Verdict in Windsor Hills Assault Case

Woman found beaten, unconscious in Brandywine Hundred home

A jury found Jermaine Booker guilty of Assault First Degree, Home Invasion, Robbery First Degree, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony, Burglary Second Degree, and Misdemeanor Theft on January 22. Booker, 21, of Wilmington will be sentenced to prison time in April.

In January 2014, a man returned to his home in the 100 block of Cambridge Drive, in Windsor Hills, to find his wife unconscious and bleeding in a small room off of the garage. He also discovered her car was gone. Booker was arrested two days later when police stopped the victim’s car in Newark, New Jersey. The license plate on the vehicle was stolen from the home of a neighbor of the victim, and contained one of Booker’s fingerprints. Additionally, a DNA test showed that a pair of Booker’s shoes found in the vehicle, were covered with the victim’s blood. This attack led to the assault, home invasion, robbery, and weapons charges.

Booker was also found guilty of burglary and theft, related to the break-in of another home on Cambridge Drive.

Deputy Attorneys General Mark Denney and Caterina Gatto prosecuted the case.

“This was a brutal and tragic case and the victim’s life has been altered forever,” said Attorney General Matt Denn. “Delawareans should know that law enforcement agencies, and our prosecutors will not rest until the people responsible for crime are punished. I thank New Castle County Police and Deputy Attorneys General Denney and Gatto for securing the verdict and bringing Mr. Booker to justice.”

“This was one of the most heinous and reprehensible crimes we have seen and the trauma suffered by the victim and the community is unimaginable,” said Col. Elmer Setting, Chief of the New Castle County Police. “This was a crime that we were not going to let go unsolved and is another example of our relentless pursuit of those who commit violent crime in New Castle County. Due to the professionalism and determination of our officers and detectives, combined with the prosecutorial efforts of the Attorney General’s office, the defendant was found guilty for his actions. While this conviction will never replace the loss suffered by the victim and her family, we hope that knowing that the person responsible will remain behind bars can offer some solace.”

Booker, who faces prison time ranging from 14 to 109 years, will be sentenced on April 1, 2016.


Department of Justice Prosecutors Secure Guilty Verdict in First Degree Murder Case

Maurice Cruz-Webster, 21, of Wilmington, charged with the January 2015 killing of 23-year-old Kyrell Lewis in front of an Arbor Place home in New Castle, was found guilty of First Degree Murder, Reckless Endangering First Degree and two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony by a New Castle County Superior Court jury this week.

Deputy Attorneys General James Kriner and Annemarie Puit prosecuted the case, leading to Cruz-Webster’s conviction.

Cruz-Webster and Lewis became involved in an argument outside of Lewis’s home on Parma Avenue on January 9, 2015, during which Cruz-Webster fired a handgun seven times, striking Lewis several times. Witnesses who heard and saw the argument called police. Lewis was taken to Christiana Hospital where he died as a result of the shooting.

“This verdict reinforces the importance of witnesses coming forward to help bring criminals to justice,” said Attorney General Matt Denn. “Thanks to eyewitness cooperation, and the outstanding work of our prosecutors and the New Castle County Police, a jury has brought justice to Kyrell Lewis’s family, and made our streets safer.”

When sentenced in March 11, 2016, Cruz-Webster faces a mandatory life sentence.


Seven Sentenced in Drug Trafficking Case

WILMINGTON, DE – Members of a heroin distribution organization, involving inmates in the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution and members in the Swanwyck and Collins Park areas of New Castle, received sentences for charges including drug trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy

The leader of the crime ring, Irene Hollis, 35, of New Castle pled guilty to Tier 5 drug dealing, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit racketeering, and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Mary Miller Johnston to 25 years in prison.

While in prison on drug charges in 2012, Hollis made several phone calls to other members of her organization to discuss their drug dealing. She also made arrangements to smuggle oxycodone and heroin into the prison. The calls were detected by the Department of Correction’s Office of Internal Affairs.

Hollis was arrested again in June 2014 on drug and conspiracy charges.

The case was prosecuted for the Department of Justice, by Deputy Attorneys General Joseph Grubb, Kate Keller, David Holloway and Barzilai Axelrod.

The Chief Investigating Officer was Detective Peter Stewart of the New Castle County Police Department. The Department of Justice, Probation and Parole, Delaware State Police, Department of Correction, and the Delaware Army National Guard assisted the New Castle County Police Department in the execution of search warrants at various residences and multiple jail cells in the Howard Young Correctional Institute and Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution.

In addition to Hollis, the other defendants sentenced today were:

Aaron Hollis (Irene Hollis’s brother), 29, of New Castle, to 10 years at Level 5
Christopher Shweda, 35, of New Castle, was declared a Habitual Offender on Drug Dealing and sentenced to 6 years Level 5
Robert Garrett, 29, of New Castle, to 2 ½ years at Level 5
Arturo Guerrero, 22, of New Castle, to 18 months at Level 5
Sara Breeding, 34, of Greenwood, to 15 months at Level 5
Shannon Macey, 25, of New Castle, to 1 year at Level 3 probation.

Two additional defendants, Mallory Read, 28, of New Castle, and Chris Dougherty, 31, of New Castle, will be sentenced at a later date. Defendant Angel Ortiz, 30, of New Castle, previously pled guilty to racketeering, and is already serving a two year prison sentence.


Governor Markell Nominates Ferris Wharton to Superior Court of New Castle County

Wilmington, DE – Governor Markell today announced the nomination of Ferris W. Wharton, a veteran of the state and federal Departments of Justice and currently an Assistant Public Defender, to serve on the New Castle County Superior Court. If confirmed by the Delaware Senate, Wharton will fill the vacancy left by Judge Charles H. Toliver IV, who announced last month that he would not seek a third 12-year term. To meet political balance requirements, Judge Toliver’s replacement must be a Republican.

“Throughout his lifelong commitment to public service and strengthening our legal system, Ferris Wharton has demonstrated the integrity and outstanding command of the law that we expect from our judges,” said Governor Markell. “He has excelled as a lawyer on both sides of the courtroom, bringing high-profile criminals to justice and representing suspects who do not have the resources to defend themselves. In every role he has met the high standards to which public officials should be held and I am proud to nominate him to be a member of the finest judiciary in the nation.”

After a brief time in private practice, Wharton became a Deputy Attorney General in 1980. He was involved in successfully prosecuting a wide variety of cases in more than 20 years in that role, including convictions for murder, drug crimes and sexual offenses. He served as head of the state’s Rape Response Unit, Felony Trial Unit and Drug Unit, and rose to the position of Chief Deputy Attorney General.

In 2003, Wharton accepted a position as Assistant United States Attorney, which he held until he ran for State Attorney General in 2006. Following a stint as of counsel at Fox Rothschild LLP, Wharton has spent the last six and a half years as an Assistant Public Defender, representing indigent defendants.

“I am humbled and very appreciative of the confidence the Governor has shown in me by nominating me to this position,” said Wharton. “If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed by the Senate, I will do my best to reward that confidence and to uphold the high standards of Delaware’s judiciary.”

Over the course of his career, Wharton has received numerous honors. He was twice named Deputy Attorney General of the Year and was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial lawyers, a recognition limited to no more than one percent of the total lawyer populations of a state.

Wharton’s commitment to service has extended beyond the courtroom, including on the Board of Managers of the Downtown YMCA in Wilmington, during which time he played a leading role in raising money for the Y’s annual Campaign for Kids. In other volunteer efforts to help less fortunate youth and families, he served on the Board of Directors of Neighborhood House, an 80 year old social service agency in Southbridge, and as an in-school mentor at Martin Luther King Elementary School.

A native of Delaware, Wharton, 61, graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School in 1970 and received a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Delaware in 1974 before earning his law degree at the University of Illinois College of Law and being admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1978. He resides in Wilmington.

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