Dametrius Benson, a 17-year-old Black/African American male from Wilmington, Delaware, was fatally shot on the evening of January 24, 2019. At approximately 6:36 p.m., New Castle County police officers were dispatched to Jacqueline Drive in the Brandywine Apartments community after gunfire was reported. Benson, who lived in the 200 block of Eighth Avenue, was found unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound.
Officers immediately began life-saving measures while emergency medical personnel prepared to transport him for treatment. Benson was taken by ambulance to a hospital, but his injuries proved fatal. Detectives from the New Castle County Police Criminal Investigations Unit arrived at the apartment complex, took control of the scene and began investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Police did not publicly identify a possible motive, describe what Benson had been doing before he was shot or disclose whether investigators believed he had been specifically targeted. The initial announcement also stated that authorities had no suspect information to release.
The killing remained unresolved in the years that followed. In January 2023, New Castle County police renewed public attention to the case as an open cold-case homicide, saying detectives continued to examine possible leads and asking anyone with information to contact the Cold Case Homicide Squad. Authorities offered a cash reward for information that could assist the investigation or lead to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible.
Police issued another cold-case appeal on January 24, 2026, seven years after Benson's death. The department again said its Criminal Investigations Unit and Cold Case Unit were continuing their efforts to resolve the homicide. No suspect was named in that appeal, and the publicly available police reports reviewed do not document an arrest, criminal charge, trial, plea, conviction or sentence connected to Benson's killing. The case therefore remains publicly classified as unsolved, with investigators still seeking the information needed to identify and prosecute whoever shot him.
