Christian Andrew Serrano, a 22-year-old Caucasian man from Wilmington, Delaware, was killed on March 17, 2016, in a shooting in the 200 block of North Connell Street. Police responding shortly after 6:30 p.m. found Serrano suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including a fatal wound to the head, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Another victim, Jerry DeLeon, survived after being struck in the arm.
Serrano's obituary described him as outgoing and devoted to his family, an active member of Interfaith Worship Center, and someone who was looking forward to attending Delaware Technical Community College to study automotive technology.
The events that led to the killing began with a dispute involving Jose Moreta, Joshua Gonzalez, and Serrano's friend Hector Guzman. Court records describe longstanding hostility between Moreta and Guzman and state that Guzman had been chased earlier that day. After learning what had happened, Serrano, DeLeon, and Alfredo Gonzalez went to find out why Guzman was being targeted. They encountered Moreta and Joshua Gonzalez near Franklin Street. During the confrontation, DeLeon became verbally aggressive with Moreta, and Moreta told Joshua Gonzalez to “hit him.” Trial evidence indicated that Moreta himself later explained the expression as meaning to shoot someone, although DeLeon struck Moreta before Gonzalez took any action. Serrano, DeLeon, and Alfredo then left the confrontation and began walking away.
As the three walked away, they realized that Moreta and Gonzalez were following them. Alfredo ran ahead to warn others to get inside while Serrano and DeLeon continued along North Connell Street. Eight gunshots were then fired in their direction. Later court proceedings established that Gonzalez was the gunman and that all eight rounds came from the same firearm. DeLeon was wounded, while Serrano was struck fatally in the head. A nearby resident who heard the gunfire looked outside and photographed Moreta and Gonzalez fleeing in different directions; she also reported seeing Gonzalez drop the gun, retrieve it, and continue running. Surveillance cameras captured much of the activity before and immediately after the attack, although the actual gunfire was not recorded.
Police officers who were already nearby heard the shots and spotted Moreta running. An officer pursued him into a nearby residence, where Moreta was apprehended within minutes. Court records say he had removed a black outer garment and told residents not to reveal his presence to police. His right palm later tested positive for gunshot residue, although prosecutors ultimately did not contend that he was the person who fired the fatal rounds. Gonzalez ran in another direction and escaped capture that night. Two days later, investigators recovered the murder weapon from a backyard along Gonzalez's path of flight. When homicide charges were formally announced in late April, Moreta and Gonzalez were both charged with first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; Gonzalez also faced a firearm-prohibited charge. Gonzalez was arrested during a vehicle stop in Newark by the U.S. Marshals Service and the First State Fugitive Task Force, while Moreta was taken into custody in connection with the homicide with assistance from probation officers. Both were held on cash bail exceeding $1 million.
The defendants were tried separately. In October 2017, a Superior Court jury convicted Joshua Gonzalez of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and seven additional felony offenses, including weapons, reckless-endangering, concealed-firearm, and conspiracy charges. On May 25, 2018, the court imposed an aggregate sentence of 140 years at Level V incarceration, suspended after 55 years and six months for decreasing levels of supervision. The Delaware Supreme Court later affirmed his convictions. A subsequent attempt by Gonzalez to obtain a juvenile sentence modification was denied as premature.
Jose Moreta went to trial in January 2018 under the prosecution's theory that, although Gonzalez fired the shots, Moreta was criminally responsible as an accomplice because Gonzalez acted at his direction. The jury convicted Moreta of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree reckless endangering, three firearm-during-a-felony counts, first-degree conspiracy, and criminal trespass as a lesser offense. The court granted a judgment of acquittal on an aggravated-intimidation charge, and the jury acquitted him of resisting arrest. On May 25, 2018, Moreta was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 27 years at Level V incarceration, followed by decreasing levels of probation. His direct appeal was rejected, leaving the convictions intact, and later postconviction proceedings also failed to overturn the judgment. The resulting court record ultimately identified Gonzalez as Serrano's actual shooter and Moreta as the accomplice whose conduct and directions formed the basis for his murder conviction.
