Jason Carl “Jaybird” Hicks, a 39-year-old man from Newark, was fatally shot in Wilmington on March 30, 2016. At about 9:30 that night, Wilmington police were alerted by the city's gunshot-detection system to the 1100 block of Elm Street. Officers found Hicks suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Medics performed CPR and rushed him to Christiana Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Early reports said police had made no arrests and had not yet announced a motive.
Investigators later determined that the killing began as a planned robbery tied to an earlier drug transaction between Hicks and Joseph Hunt. According to the prosecution's account, Hunt devised a plan to rob Hicks and recruited Durrion Morrison and others to participate. Because Hicks knew Hunt, Hunt intended to act as though he were also a victim during the robbery so that Hicks would not realize he had helped arrange it.
On the night of the shooting, Hicks drove with Hunt to pick up Morrison. As Morrison began entering the rear of Hicks's vehicle, another man approached with a gun and tried to force open a door. Hicks attempted to drive away while Morrison was still partly inside the vehicle. Morrison drew a handgun and shot Hicks twice. Hicks stopped, got out and ran up the street, but Morrison pursued him and fired several more times. Authorities said Hicks was shot five times in all. Morrison fled while Hunt remained behind and pretended that he had not been involved. Witness interviews later supported the conclusion that Hunt had organized the robbery and that Morrison was the gunman. The other armed man described in the court record was not charged.
A New Castle County grand jury indicted Morrison and Hunt in August 2016 on charges that included first-degree murder and attempted first-degree robbery. Morrison had already left Delaware. He was arrested in West Virginia on an unrelated charge of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, but after being released on bail, he fled again, this time to Kentucky. United States Marshals located him there after Delaware authorities filed charges in Hicks's death.
Hunt pleaded guilty to manslaughter, attempted first-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy and agreed to testify if any co-defendant went to trial. Morrison pleaded guilty on November 3, 2017, to second-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, avoiding a trial on the original first-degree murder charge. In February 2018, Morrison was sentenced to 28 years of incarceration, suspended after 20 years for two years of probation. He later sought postconviction relief and challenged aspects of his plea and the evidence, but the courts rejected those claims and left his conviction and sentence in place.
