Charles Mays, a 66-year-old Black man and lifelong Wilmington resident, was driving his pickup truck through the city during the early afternoon of January 14, 2017, when an attempted robbery turned deadly. Near the 2200 block of North Lamotte Street, Deneisha Wright approached the passenger side of his truck with a firearm. Prosecutors later established that Wright intended to take pills and money from Mays.
When he resisted, she fired several rounds into the cab, striking him twice in the legs.
Despite being gravely wounded, Mays remained behind the wheel as his truck moved from the shooting scene and crashed into several parked vehicles near Gordon and Lamotte Streets. Officers responding shortly after midday initially believed they had been called to investigate a traffic collision. When they reached the damaged truck, however, they discovered Mays unresponsive inside with gunshot wounds. Emergency personnel rushed him to Christiana Hospital, but doctors were unable to save him, and he was pronounced dead.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting were initially unclear. Police did not immediately know exactly where Mays had been shot, why he had been targeted, or who was responsible. Investigators eventually found a trail of blood leading from the truck toward a nearby apartment building. Surveillance recordings from the apartment complex became an important part of the case, showing several people leaving one of the units and approaching Mays's vehicle. Witnesses familiar with Wright later identified her as the fourth person seen leaving the apartment, moving toward the truck and confronting Mays.
Investigators also developed testimony from members of Wright's family and others who had been near the apartment. Her cousin Ralph Mitchell testified that Wright had been inside the residence that day and that he watched her shoot Mays. Tyrell Simpson, another witness connected to Wright, said she later told him she had shot someone. Wright's aunt, Lisa Mitchell, was also shown on the surveillance footage approaching the vehicle before the gunfire. Police located Wright approximately ten days after the killing. At that time, she was wearing a jacket resembling the one worn by the shooter in the video, and laboratory testing found particles on it that were consistent with gunshot residue.
Authorities later recovered the firearm that ballistic testing identified as the weapon used to kill Mays. The gun was found by probation officers at another residence, although investigators were unable to establish a direct connection between Wright and the people living there. Even without that link, prosecutors built their case around the surveillance footage, witness identifications, statements attributed to Wright and the physical evidence found on her clothing.
On May 1, 2017, a New Castle County grand jury indicted Wright on two counts of first-degree murder, including intentional murder and felony murder, along with attempted first-degree robbery, three firearm counts and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. The case went before a Superior Court jury in June 2018. Wright denied being at the apartment and claimed she had been at a corner store when the shooting occurred. Her defense challenged the reliability of the prosecution's witnesses and suggested that another woman, Latasha Brown, may have been responsible.
After a six-day trial, the jury rejected Wright's alibi and found her guilty of first-degree felony murder, attempted first-degree robbery and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. Jurors acquitted her of the separate intentional-murder count and its related firearm charge. In a separate proceeding without the jury, the judge also found Wright guilty of possessing a firearm as a prohibited person. In November 2018, she was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional nine years.
Wright appealed, arguing in part that the evidence identifying her as the shooter was unreliable. In June 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed her convictions and sentence. She later sought postconviction relief, claiming her trial attorney had been ineffective for failing to request a specific jury instruction concerning her alibi. The Superior Court denied that request in February 2023, finding that the evidence of her guilt was overwhelming despite the attorney's omission. The Delaware Supreme Court upheld that ruling in October 2023, leaving Wright's convictions and life sentence intact.
Mays was remembered by relatives as a helpful and loving lifelong resident of Wilmington. He left behind five children, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, siblings and an extended family. What first appeared to responding officers to be an ordinary vehicle accident was ultimately revealed as the final moment of a robbery attempt that ended his life, but the investigation, prosecution and later appeals resulted in the identification, conviction and imprisonment of the person held responsible.
