Walter Pereira, a 29-year-old male from Dover, Delaware, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2022. Dover police said the call came in at about 3:42 a.m. for a shooting at a residence in the unit block of Forest Creek Drive. When officers arrived, they found Pereira on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds.
Officers and paramedics tried to save him at the scene before he was taken to an area hospital, where he later died.
The investigation quickly centered on the residence where the shooting happened. Police said Rayvaughn Jones, 29, of Dover, was arrested as he was leaving the home. Investigators determined that Jones lived at the residence with Pereira. At that early point, police described the suspects as two Black males but did not provide a more detailed description. A search warrant at the home led detectives to recover a large collection of weapons and drugs, including an AK-47 rifle, an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, multiple handguns, marijuana, oxycodone pills, methamphetamine, cocaine, LSD, cash, and drug paraphernalia.
Jones was charged with numerous drug and firearms offenses, including multiple counts of possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession with intent to deliver marijuana and other controlled substances, possession of tier quantities of controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia, and second-degree conspiracy. The public information released at the time did not list Jones as charged with Pereira's murder, but his arrest came directly from the scene and unfolded as part of the same homicide investigation.
As detectives continued working the case, they identified 17-year-old Tyre Blue of Dover as a suspect. Blue was arrested without incident on December 7, 2022. He was charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, and possession of ammunition by a person prohibited. He was held at Stevenson House on $150,000 cash bail.
Nearly a year later, Dover police announced another arrest tied to Pereira's killing. Investigators identified Khalil Peden, 23, of Bear, Delaware, as an additional suspect. Peden was indicted by a grand jury on November 6, 2023, and on November 29, 2023, the U.S. Marshals Service First State Fugitive Task Force arrested him without incident at a residence in Wilmington. Peden was arraigned in Kent County Superior Court and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $1,000,000 cash bail.
Peden was charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and first-degree conspiracy. His arrest marked a major development in a case that began with Pereira being found wounded on the ground outside or at the Forest Creek Drive residence in the quiet, early hours of a holiday morning. Police continued to ask for tips after announcing the arrests, indicating that the investigation had remained active beyond the initial scene response and the first arrests.
