Carl Pedone Jr., a 19-year-old White male from Seaford, Delaware, was inside a home in the 2800 block of West Stein Highway late on October 11, 2022, when the night turned violent. Delaware State Police said troopers were called around 11:53 p.m. for a reported home invasion and shooting. Inside the residence, two people had been struck by gunfire: Pedone and a 19-year-old woman from Seaford.
Pedone had been shot multiple times in the torso and was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The woman had been shot once in the lower body and survived after treatment at a hospital.
Investigators described the attack as a targeted home invasion involving five suspects. Police said the group forced its way into the residence through a rear door while armed with handguns. Once inside, they went directly to the bedroom where Pedone and the woman were located and demanded an unknown item. Pedone was shot inside the bedroom, while the woman was shot as she sat in a chair in the same room. An infant child and two other adults were also inside the home at the time, but police said they were not injured.
For months, the case remained under investigation as detectives worked to identify the people involved. In April 2023, authorities announced the first three arrests. Trent Ingalls, 20, of Milford, Delaware, was charged along with two juvenile males from Seaford, ages 17 and 15. Police said Ingalls and the 17-year-old had been indicted by a Sussex County Grand Jury on April 24, 2023. The 17-year-old was taken into custody at his residence on April 26, while the 15-year-old turned himself in to police the same day. Ingalls was arrested the next day in the Rutland, Vermont, area after a traffic stop by Vermont State Police, and he was held there on a fugitive warrant while awaiting extradition to Delaware.
The charges against the first three suspects included first-degree murder, firearm offenses, reckless endangering, home invasion, first-degree assault, and conspiracy counts. The 17-year-old was committed to the Stevenson House Detention Center on a $782,000 cash bond. The 15-year-old was committed to the New Castle County Detention Center on a $527,000 cash bond. At that point, police said two additional suspects had not yet been identified publicly.
The investigation continued into 2024, when Delaware State Police announced that two more suspects had been identified and charged: 16-year-old Denzel Maker of Seaford and 20-year-old Timothy Ohara of Lincoln, Delaware. Both were indicted by a Sussex County Grand Jury on August 12, 2024. Maker turned himself in at Troop 4 on August 15, 2024, and Ohara, who was already incarcerated at James T. Vaughn Correctional Institution, was arrested on August 30, 2024.
Maker and Ohara were charged with first-degree murder, first-degree murder during the commission of a felony, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangering, first-degree home invasion burglary, first-degree conspiracy, and second-degree conspiracy. Ohara remained at James T. Vaughn Correctional Institution on a $500,000 cash bond, while Maker was committed to Stevenson House Detention Center on a $500,000 cash bond.
The case, as described by investigators, centered on five armed suspects who entered the home together, went straight to Pedone’s bedroom, and demanded something before gunfire erupted. Pedone was killed, the young woman with him was injured, and the other people inside the home, including an infant, survived physically unharmed. By the time the later arrests were announced, police had tied all five alleged participants to the home invasion homicide through their investigation, bringing charges against Ingalls, three juveniles, and Ohara in connection with Pedone’s death.
