Makhi Swanson, 23, a Black male, was shot in Wilmington's Hilltop neighborhood on the afternoon of January 22, 2024. Just after 3 p.m., officers responded to the 300 block of North Scott Street and found him gravely wounded; he was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and later died. Police identified Detective Brandon Mosley as the lead investigator and appealed for tips as the city grappled with its first fatal shooting of the year.
The violence unfolded amid a tense day for Wilmington, which also saw two children wounded in a separate shooting less than an hour later.
In the days that followed, the department formally released Swanson's name and the timeline around the attack, while community tributes and obituaries began to sketch a picture of the young man whose life had been cut short. His death date and age were confirmed in funeral notices and memorial postings, underscoring the loss felt by family and friends. A contemporaneous compilation of gun-violence records further noted the location and date, placing the killing within a broader ledger of city and state incidents.
Nearly a year later, investigators announced a break in the case. On January 10, 2025, Wilmington Police said they had identified 20-year-old Naim Hassan-El of Snow Hill, Maryland, as the suspect. According to authorities, a New Castle County grand jury indicted him on January 29, 2024; he was later apprehended in Worcester County, Maryland, on October 30, 2024, and extradited to Delaware on December 31, 2024. Hassan-El was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and first-degree reckless endangering, and was held on $2,000,000 cash-only bail pending court proceedings. Police credited Detective Mosley with leading the investigation and reiterated that all defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty.
Details about motive or additional suspects have not been publicly disclosed. Early reports noted that detectives sought community assistance, a common step in shootings with few initial witnesses willing to speak. A later community-focused summary reiterated Swanson's identity and the Hilltop location, aligning with the police timeline while emphasizing the unanswered questions that lingered until the arrest.
