Hilda “Gail” Donaway, a 70-year-old White/Caucasian female from Bridgeville, Delaware, was killed on the evening of December 22, 2021, inside her home in the 11000 block of Abbys Way. The winter evening turned violent at about 6:18 p.m., when Delaware State Police were sent to the residence for a reported shooting. The home was occupied by Hilda and her grandson, and the scene investigators later described was not a single shot or a sudden struggle inside the house, but an attack from outside the walls of the home.
Authorities said Ronald L. Donaway, 74, of Millsboro, Delaware, went to the residence where his ex-wife was staying. While outside, he allegedly began firing a rifle into the home, sending rounds through the windows of the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Hilda was in the kitchen when she was struck by gunfire, and she died there from her wounds. Her grandson escaped through a bedroom window as the shooting was happening and was not injured.
After the gunfire, police said Ronald Donaway entered the home briefly before leaving the area in a black Kia. Troopers responding to the call encountered his vehicle at the entrance to the community, conducted a traffic stop, and took him into custody without incident. Additional reporting citing the arrest warrant said neighbors heard the gunfire and witnessed him firing rounds into the home, and that officers noticed visible blood on his hands when they approached him.
Ronald Donaway was charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, home invasion, and first-degree reckless endangering. He was taken to Delaware State Police Troop 5, arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 3, and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $900,000 cash bond. Public online reporting located on the case describes the arrest and charges but does not provide a confirmed later trial outcome, conviction, plea, or sentence.
