Shakur Aumir Burrage, a 21-year-old Black male from Dover, Delaware, was killed on the evening of October 2, 2020, in the Rodney Village community. Delaware State Police were called to the 200 block of David Hall Road at about 7:03 p.m. for a reported shooting. When troopers arrived, they found Shakur inside a vehicle, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his upper body.
Emergency Medical Services pronounced him dead at the scene.
The first picture investigators released was one of a sudden confrontation that turned deadly. Police said their preliminary investigation indicated that Shakur and an unknown suspect had been involved in a physical altercation before the shooting. The fight happened in or near the vehicle, and after Shakur was shot, the suspect fled the scene. In the immediate aftermath, authorities said they did not have suspect information available and asked the public to contact the Delaware State Police Homicide Unit or Delaware Crime Stoppers with tips.
As the investigation continued, Shakur was identified publicly by Delaware State Police as Shakur A. Burrage of Dover. Outside the brief police details, his obituary described a young man with deep roots in Delaware. He was born in Wilmington on February 8, 1999, to Jeffrey Burrage Jr. and Aaliyah Gibbs. He attended May B. Leasure Elementary School, Gunning Bedford Middle School, and Caesar Rodney High School, where he earned his diploma. He worked at the Dover Skating Rink and Two Men and a Truck, and later started his own moving company, KMC, short for Kur Moving Company.
Those who remembered Shakur described him as energetic, entrepreneurial, and family-centered. As a child, he played football with the Wilmington Soldiers and basketball through the Newark Boys & Girls Club, where he reached championship games. He trained in martial arts at Full Circle Martial Arts and held a green belt. He also found ways to work and build from a young age, including snow removal, lawn care, and selling snacks in the neighborhood. His obituary described his smile, humor, music interests, and loyalty to his younger siblings, including helping them during pandemic-era schooling.
For months after the shooting, the case remained an active homicide investigation. Then, in January 2021, Delaware State Police announced an arrest. Detectives identified Deon'te Reaves of Middle River, Maryland, as the suspect in Shakur's killing. Reaves, who was also 21 at the time, was arrested on January 15, 2021, in connection with the fatal shooting.
Reaves was charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was extradited from Baltimore, Maryland, to Delaware State Police Troop 2, where he was processed and arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court 2. He was then committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on a $1,060,000 cash bond. The online sources located for this synopsis did not provide a later trial result, conviction, acquittal, plea, or sentencing outcome.
