Ernest Saunders Staples, a 38-year-old Black/African American male, died on August 31, 2021, after gunfire broke the night in the Saddlebrook Townhouses community of New Castle, Delaware. Around 10:30 p.m., New Castle County police officers were sent to the 100 block of Freedom Trail after reports of shots fired. When they arrived, they found Staples lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body.
Officers tried to save him with first aid, but their efforts were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives from the New Castle County Division of Police Criminal Investigations Unit took over the case that night, turning the stretch of Freedom Trail into a homicide scene. Police did not publicly describe a motive, name a suspect, or release details about what may have led to the shooting. The public statements focused on the search for the person or people responsible, with police leadership telling Staples' family that investigators were making every effort to find whoever took his life.
Away from the roadway where his life ended, Staples was remembered as Ernest S. Staples, born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on July 19, 1983, and later connected to Delaware after moving there in 2002. His obituary described him as someone who became certified as an HVAC technician, worked contracts using those skills, and later worked at The Goodwill outlet as a material handler before being promoted to warehouse supervisor. He was described as a hard worker with business plans, someone who would take on projects from home repairs to car washing, and someone who loved travel, clothes, food, dancing, joking, and being around family.
His family's memorial painted him as deeply family-oriented and especially proud of being a father. He left behind his mother, fiancée, two children, siblings, extended family, and close friends. Online memorial entries also remembered him as “Ernie,” a caring father, a hard worker, loving, funny, and the life of the party, showing how his death carried beyond the police investigation and into the grief of people who knew him personally.
Publicly available sources reviewed do not show any reported arrests, named suspects, criminal charges, trial proceedings, or convictions in Staples' homicide. The case was still being presented by police as an active investigation in the immediate aftermath, with investigators asking anyone with information, video, or tips to contact Detective Jeffrey Sendek, New Castle County Police, or Crime Stoppers. A reward was offered for information leading to an arrest or conviction, underscoring that authorities were still looking for the person or people responsible.
