William Beltran Jr., a 53-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was fatally shot in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 14, 2015. Beltran, who was also known to family and friends by the nickname “Chuton,” was found after Wilmington police responded to the area of 4th and Monroe streets shortly after 4:00 p.m. following reports of gunfire. Officers located him in a parking lot in the 300 block of Monroe Street suffering from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Emergency personnel transported
Beltran to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries. Investigators examining the surrounding area discovered more than a dozen spent shell casings in the 400 block of North Monroe Street, evidence that numerous rounds had been fired during the incident. Police began processing the scene and interviewing potential witnesses in an effort to determine what had led to the shooting and who was responsible.
Shortly after the gunfire, police stopped a vehicle not far from the homicide scene and took its occupants into custody. Contemporary reports did not publicly identify those individuals or indicate that any of them were subsequently charged with Beltran's murder. No reliable later reporting located in connection with the case establishes that the people detained following the vehicle stop were prosecuted for his death.
Beltran's death left a large family grieving. His obituary remembered him as a funny and caring person who enjoyed building things with his hands. He was survived by his father, William Beltran Sr.; his stepmother, Paula Beltran; Carmen Ortiz, the mother of his children; his children Lissette Beltran, Aesha Beltran, William Beltran III and George Ortiz; six grandchildren; his sister Janet; and numerous nieces and nephews. His family and friends gathered for a visitation and celebration of his life on October 21, 2015, one week after his death.
Despite the immediate police response and the detention of individuals near the scene, investigators were unable to publicly identify the person responsible for killing Beltran. His homicide eventually became one of the unresolved cases handled by the Wilmington Police Department's Cold Case Unit.
Years after the shooting, police continued seeking information about Beltran's death. In January 2021, Wilmington investigators renewed their appeal to the public, asking anyone who knew something about the October 2015 homicide to contact the department. The renewed request for information demonstrated that investigators had not obtained enough evidence to publicly charge anyone with the killing.
No reliable publicly available information located for the case documents a named murder suspect, indictment, trial, guilty plea or conviction in Beltran's death. Although people were detained shortly after the shooting, there is no indication that those detentions resulted in a murder prosecution. William Beltran's killing therefore remains an unresolved Wilmington homicide, with investigators continuing to rely on witnesses or others with knowledge of what happened to provide information that could identify his killer.
