Daquan Lake, a 26-year-old Black/African American male from Bridgeville, Delaware, was killed on the afternoon of November 25, 2023, after Delaware State Police were called to the 21000 block of Mill Park Drive for a reported shooting. The incident unfolded in the roadway, where Lake had been speaking with a large group of people. What began as a gathering on the street turned violent when an unknown person shot him in the upper body.
When troopers arrived, they found Lake suffering from the gunshot wound. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but he did not survive. In the first hours of the investigation, police had little suspect information to release because the people gathered in the roadway fled after the shooting. The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit took over the case and asked the public for information, including tips for Detective D. Grassi or Delaware Crime Stoppers.
For more than a month, the case remained under active investigation while detectives worked to identify who they believed was responsible. Investigators later named Ian’Tae Albury, of Bridgeville, as the suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest. On December 29, 2023, detectives served a search warrant in the same area where the shooting occurred, on Mill Park Drive, and took Albury into custody without incident.
Albury was charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, three counts of possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, two counts of possession of firearm ammunition by a person prohibited, and carrying a concealed deadly weapon. After his arrest, he was taken to Delaware State Police Troop 5, arraigned through Justice of the Peace Court 2, and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $1,160,000 cash bond.
Lake’s death later became part of a broader public conversation about gun violence in Delaware. In early 2024, his mother joined other local mothers at Legislative Hall to speak about the loss of their sons and the pain that remained after the shootings. She said police had made an arrest in her son’s case, but she also warned that without stronger action and accountability around gun violence, more families would continue to face the same grief. Online sources located for this synopsis reported the arrest and charges against Albury, but did not show a final trial outcome, conviction, or sentencing in Lake’s case.
