Mykal Dempster, a 31-year-old Black / African American male from the Dover, Delaware area, was killed on the evening of June 1, 2020, after gunfire erupted in the 300 block of Kesselring Avenue. Dover police were called to the neighborhood at about 6:54 p.m. for a report of shots fired, and when officers arrived they found Dempster dead inside a vehicle.
Authorities said a nearby home had also been struck by gunfire, showing that the shooting had spilled beyond the vehicle and into the surrounding residential block.
The violence unfolded quickly, but so did the response from people nearby. Several residents in the neighborhood provided police with descriptions, images, and other information about two suspects believed to have been involved. Officers then set up a perimeter around the area, with assistance from the Delaware State Police Aviation Unit. By about 8:05 p.m., roughly an hour after police were first called, two suspects had been taken into custody. Authorities said each suspect was armed with a handgun when arrested.
Police initially arrested Raiquan Fisher, who was reported as 18 at the time by Dover police, and Harry Charles, who was 15 at the time of the shooting. Both were charged in the immediate aftermath with first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy, possession of a deadly weapon during commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, first-degree reckless endangering, and criminal mischief. Fisher was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a cash bond, while Charles was held at a juvenile detention center.
Later court and prosecution accounts gave more detail about what happened inside the vehicle. According to the Delaware Department of Justice, Dempster had picked up Harry Charles and Raquian Fisher on June 1, 2020. After they entered the vehicle, Charles shot Dempster six times, and a seventh round struck a nearby building. A court decision also described Dempster as being found in the driver's seat of a silver vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds to his back and head, and said he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The case moved forward with Charles being prosecuted as an adult. In September 2021, Charles pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree conspiracy, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Prosecutors described the killing as a tragic case in which Dempster was shot from behind while sitting in his car. Charles was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder case.
Fisher's case resulted in a separate sentence connected to the incident and related gun violence. Reports state that Fisher pleaded guilty to firearm-related charges, including possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. For his connection to the events, he received an eight-year prison sentence for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, first-degree reckless endangering, and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. The prosecutions ended with both suspects convicted or sentenced in connection with the events surrounding Dempster's death, with Charles held responsible for the fatal shooting itself.
