Amber Marie Buckler, a 20-year-old White woman from the Dover, Delaware, area, was killed on June 1, 2017, inside a room at the First State Inn on North DuPont Highway. Dover police were called to the motel at approximately 11:28 that morning and found Buckler dead from a single gunshot wound. Authorities determined that she had been shot while lying in bed, and later court findings stated that she was asleep when the gunman aimed at her head and fired at close range without warning.
Police arrested Buckler's boyfriend and fiancé, Darren C. Weiford of Dover, at the motel without incident. Investigators described the shooting as domestic-related. Weiford was initially charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was taken to the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center and held in default of a $1.18 million cash bond.
The circumstances revealed during the criminal proceedings portrayed the shooting as an intentional and particularly cruel act. A Delaware Superior Court judge found that Weiford had deliberately aimed at Buckler as she slept and that a detailed social-media post he made approximately one month before the killing resembled a script for carrying out the crime. Mental-health issues were raised during the case, but multiple evaluations found Weiford competent, and no psychiatrist or psychologist concluded that a diagnosed mental condition caused his actions. The sentencing court also identified excessive cruelty, a lack of remorse and the need to avoid depreciating the seriousness of the offense as aggravating factors.
In November 2018, Weiford pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, resolving the case without a trial. Prosecutors Lisa Whitelock and Dennis Kelleher handled the prosecution. Although the original accusation involved first-degree murder, the accepted plea exposed Weiford to a possible sentence ranging from 18 years to life in prison.
In January 2019, a Superior Court judge sentenced Weiford to an aggregate 33 years of unsuspended imprisonment, followed by one year in a work-release program and two years of probation. Thirty years of the prison term were imposed for the murder offense, with the remaining mandatory incarceration connected to the firearm conviction.
Weiford later sought correction of his sentence, arguing that the court had improperly considered a letter he sent directly to the judge asking for leniency without his attorney's knowledge. The Superior Court rejected that argument, finding that Weiford himself had chosen not to tell his lawyer about the letter and that the court had committed no due-process violation. The judge also concluded that the defense had already presented substantially similar arguments about Weiford's mental health and his request for leniency, meaning the letter had not unfairly prejudiced him.
Weiford appealed, but the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision in October 2019. His guilty pleas and 33-year prison sentence therefore remained in place, bringing the prosecution for Buckler's killing to a final conclusion.
