Raquan Davis, a 24-year-old Black/African American male from Wilmington, Delaware, was shot on October 25, 2020, during a Sunday afternoon that quickly turned into a homicide investigation. Wilmington police were called shortly after 4:00 p.m. for reports of gunfire in the area of North Pine Street, with later police reporting describing the scene as East 23rd and North Pine Streets.
Officers found Davis suffering from gunshot wounds and arranged for him to be rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
Despite emergency medical efforts, Davis died from his injuries after arriving at the hospital. Early reports described the shooting as part of a violent stretch in Wilmington, and police initially released only limited details while asking the public for information. Detective Sergeant Steven Bender was identified as the investigator handling the case in its early stages, and police urged anyone with knowledge of the shooting to come forward.
For years, the case remained unresolved. Davis’s death became a cold case as investigators continued to work through leads after the original investigation did not immediately produce an arrest. The case was later reviewed by the Wilmington Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, including Detective Kevin Nolan, Detective Devon Jones, and Cold Case Investigator Steven Rizzo. Their renewed investigation eventually led authorities to identify Desmin Walker as a suspect.
In 2025, nearly five years after Davis was killed, investigators presented the case to a New Castle County Grand Jury. On September 29, 2025, the grand jury returned an indictment against Walker. Authorities said Walker, then 30, was arrested in Greensboro, North Carolina, on October 14, 2025, and later extradited back to Delaware on October 30, 2025.
After his return to Delaware, Walker was charged with Murder First Degree, two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, two counts of Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition by a Person Prohibited, and Reckless Endangering First Degree. He was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 11 and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $1,180,000 cash-only bail. The arrest marked a major development in a case that had lingered for years after Davis was found wounded on a Wilmington street and later died at the hospital.
