Dakevis Reed, a 29-year-old Black/African American male, was killed on the afternoon of December 10, 2020, in the Rosegate community near New Castle, Delaware. Around 2:00 p.m., New Castle County police were called to the area of Rose Lane after reports of shots fired. By the time officers arrived, they learned that two gunshot victims had already been taken to a local hospital.
Investigators traced the shooting scene to the 100 block of Rose Lane, where what began as a call about gunfire quickly became a homicide investigation.
Reed died from his wounds after the shooting. The second victim survived the initial attack but was reported to be in critical condition. Police publicly identified Reed as the person killed in the Rosegate shooting later that month while continuing to ask for information from the public. At the time, the case was one of several deadly shootings New Castle County police were investigating during a violent stretch in December 2020.
The investigation later became tied to a much larger prosecution of NorthPak, described by Delaware authorities as a violent Wilmington-area gang connected to multiple shootings, murders, attempted murders, firearms offenses, and gang-related crimes. In June 2021, Delaware prosecutors announced a sweeping indictment involving more than 120 charges connected to crimes allegedly committed between November 2018 and April 2021. Reed's killing was listed among at least six murders authorities attributed to NorthPak members during that period.
Two suspects, Jacari Robinson and Julius Smith Jr., were charged in connection with Reed's death. In the original indictment, both were accused of first-degree murder in Reed's killing, along with attempted murder and other firearm, conspiracy, and gang-related offenses. Prosecutors said the case against them was part of a broader law enforcement effort involving the Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington Police Department, New Castle County Police, and other local, state, and federal agencies.
The case was resolved in August 2023 when Robinson and Smith pleaded guilty in Superior Court to charges connected to Reed's killing and the wounding of the surviving victim. Robinson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, second-degree assault, and illegal gang participation. Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, first-degree conspiracy, and illegal gang participation.
Robinson was sentenced to 22 years in prison, followed by probation. Smith was sentenced to 20 years in prison, also followed by probation. Both sentences included an additional 63 years of suspended prison time, which could be imposed if either violated the law while on probation. Their convictions added to a series of guilty pleas and trial convictions secured against NorthPak defendants, as prosecutors described the case as part of a continued effort to hold gang members accountable for the violence that had affected Wilmington and nearby communities.
In the end, Reed's killing began as a sudden shooting on a residential street in Rosegate and became one piece of a much larger gang prosecution. What first appeared to police as a double shooting on Rose Lane ultimately led investigators to Robinson and Smith, whose guilty pleas confirmed their responsibility in the fatal attack and brought formal convictions in Reed's death nearly three years after he was shot.
