Wade Hammond II, a 22-year-old Black/African American male, was killed after a late-night shooting on February 16, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. The violence unfolded around 10:02 p.m. in the 800 block of North Adams Street, where Wilmington police responded to reports of gunfire. Officers found one wounded man at the scene, later identified as 46-year-old Lamont Davis, who was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries.
Around the same time, Hammond arrived at the hospital suffering from gunshot wounds and was initially listed in critical condition.
As the night turned into the following day, the case became a double homicide. Police later identified Hammond as the second man who had succumbed to his injuries. Early public reports described the scene as an active investigation with few immediate answers, and authorities asked anyone with information to contact Wilmington Police Detective Matthew Bender or submit tips through Delaware Crime Stoppers. Rescue crews and medics had been called to the Adams Street block as the emergency unfolded, and a local trauma center was alerted that a patient was on the way.
For several months, the investigation continued before police announced an arrest tied specifically to Hammond's killing. Detective Steven Bender of the Wilmington Police Criminal Investigations Division identified 19-year-old Marquis Crews-Foster as a suspect in the murder of Wade Hammond. On July 13, 2020, the case was presented to a New Castle County grand jury, which returned an indictment against Crews-Foster.
Crews-Foster was initially indicted on charges of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. After the indictment, he was arraigned in New Castle County Superior Court, given a $1,000,000 cash-only bail, and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution. At that stage, authorities publicly framed the case as the result of a Wilmington Police investigation into the February Adams Street murder.
The case later ended with a conviction on lesser charges than the original murder indictment. In March 2022, Marquis Crews-Foster was sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the February 2020 murder of Wade Hammond. The available public prosecution recap identifies Crews-Foster as the defendant sentenced in Hammond's death, but does not provide a detailed motive or describe whether the shooting was targeted, accidental, or connected to the other fatal victim, Lamont Davis.
