Javon D. Jones, a 23-year-old Black / African American male from Dover, Delaware, was inside Uplift Barber Shop at 1534 Governors Avenue in the Rodney Village area on the evening of May 15, 2021, when violence suddenly came through the front door. Delaware State Police said Jones was a patron in the shop when a man entered and fired multiple shots at him. Jones was struck in the upper torso as other people were inside the business, but no one else was reported injured.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In the days after the shooting, authorities publicly identified Jones as the victim and described the case as an active homicide investigation. At first, the gunman was unknown, and investigators said the shooter fled on foot after opening fire. The details released at the time painted the killing as a targeted attack in a public place, with Jones singled out inside the barbershop while bystanders were present.
The investigation later led police to Kyree Robinson and Jesean Coverdale. Robinson, a Dover man, was arrested in April 2022 and charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. He was arraigned and held on a cash bond of more than $1 million. Coverdale, of Milford, was arrested in July 2023 during a traffic stop after police learned there was an active warrant for him. He was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy and was held at Sussex Correctional Institution on an $85,000 cash bond.
Prosecutors later said Robinson and Coverdale had searched for Jones in different parts of the Dover area before finding him at the barbershop. According to the Delaware Department of Justice account reported by local outlets, the two were acting in retaliation for an alleged earlier altercation. Coverdale waited outside while Robinson entered the crowded shop with a handgun drawn and began shooting almost immediately, striking and killing Jones before both men fled.
The case ultimately ended with convictions and prison sentences for both men. Coverdale, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced as an adult on April 19 to 27 years in prison, suspended after three years, followed by two years of intensive probation, after convictions for second-degree conspiracy and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Robinson was sentenced on September 25 to 105 years in prison, suspended after 41 years, followed by three years of descending levels of probation, after convictions for second-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and first-degree reckless endangering.
