Do you know who murdered Quinnell Hayes in 2005? Quinnell DaRonn “Q-Ball” Hayes, a 20-year-old Black/African American male, died on June 27, 2005, in Wilmington, Delaware. He was remembered by family as the beloved son of Sharon Calhoun and Rev. Ronald Hayes, and as a brother in a large family that included Steffoné Miller, Ronald Anderson, Ronita Davis, Etowja Anderson, Charita Lewis, Kenia Lewis, and the late Dai-Shawn Calhoun.
His nickname, “Q-Ball,” appears in memorial and obituary notices, suggesting he was known that way by those close to him.
The shooting happened around midnight on Monday, June 27, 2005, in the 200 block of West 31st Street in Wilmington. Police responded to a report of a shooting incident and found Hayes suffering from gunshot wounds. He later succumbed to his injuries. Public cold case listings identify the case as a homicide and list the Wilmington Police case number as 30-05-59899.
The available public information does not describe what led up to the gunfire, whether Hayes was targeted, whether there was an argument, or whether anyone else was injured. What is known is that a summer night in Wilmington ended with Hayes fatally wounded on West 31st Street, leaving his family to bury a young man who had only recently reached adulthood.
The case has remained open as a cold case. The Wilmington Police Department’s Cold Case Unit later asked the public for help with the investigation, stating that detectives were still seeking information about the 2005 murder. Delaware Crime Stoppers also carried the case in its unsolved crimes listings, again identifying Hayes as the victim and the 200 block of West 31st Street as the location.
No publicly available online source found for this synopsis identified a named suspect, announced an arrest, listed charges, or described a trial or conviction connected to Hayes’ killing. Based on the available online records, the case remains unsolved, and investigators have continued to seek tips from anyone who knows what happened that night.
