Dennis Davis, a 37-year-old Black/African American male, was shot in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday afternoon, June 11, 2023, in the area of East 23rd Street and North Market Street. Police were called to the unit block of East 23rd Street at about 2:16 p.m. for a shooting, and when officers arrived, they found Davis suffering from gunshot wounds.
He was taken to Christiana Hospital, but he later died from his injuries.
What began as a brief encounter on a Wilmington street was later described by authorities as an unprovoked killing followed by a robbery. Investigators said Deontay Willingham, of Bridgeton, New Jersey, approached Davis and started a conversation with him. During that encounter, Willingham shot Davis twice, then stole a necklace pendant from him before fleeing the scene. Early reports said police were searching for the person responsible, and Detective Derek Haines of the Wilmington Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division was assigned to the case.
The investigation quickly moved forward. Through the course of the case, Detective Haines identified Willingham as a suspect, and the matter was presented to a New Castle County Grand Jury. On June 20, 2023, the grand jury returned an indictment against Willingham. By late July 2023, Wilmington Police announced that Willingham had been charged in connection with Davis’s killing. He was 33 years old at the time of the charges and was facing murder and robbery-related counts.
Willingham was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks after the shooting. Prosecutors later said the case was the result of an investigation by the Wilmington Police Department and was prosecuted by the Delaware Department of Justice. The charges against him included Murder Second Degree, Robbery Second Degree, and two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.
Willingham ultimately pleaded guilty to those charges. On April 9, 2025, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the murder and robbery of Dennis Davis. Authorities said the prison sentence followed his guilty plea and reflected the fatal shooting, the theft of Davis’s necklace pendant, and the use of a firearm during the crimes.
