On the morning of April 30, 2015, gunfire brought police to the parking lot of the Pine Grove Apartments on Webbs Lane in Dover, Delaware. Officers responding at approximately 9:42 a.m. found DaShawn Friend, a 19-year-old Black/African American male, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Friend was pronounced dead at the scene, and investigators treated his death as a homicide.
The shooting also disrupted the surrounding neighborhood, with nearby schools temporarily placed on lockdown while authorities worked to determine whether the person responsible remained in the area.
Detectives spent the remainder of the day following leads and soon focused on Fchante Robertson and James White, both of Dover. Investigators ultimately determined that Friend had become involved in a marijuana transaction that turned into a robbery. Delaware prosecutors later identified Robertson as the person who shot and killed Friend during that confrontation. The investigation moved quickly, and by the following day police announced that both Robertson and White had been arrested in connection with the killing.
Robertson initially faced first-degree murder and first-degree robbery charges, along with second-degree conspiracy, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, and resisting arrest. White was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree conspiracy, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person. Although White was arrested as part of the same investigation, the publicly available reports detailing Friend's case primarily document the later prosecution and sentencing of Robertson and do not provide a comparable final disposition for White.
Robertson's case eventually ended with a plea rather than a murder trial. In September 2016, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Delaware prosecutors stated in announcing the plea that Robertson had shot and killed Friend during the attempted robbery connected with the marijuana deal. The reduced manslaughter plea resolved the homicide prosecution against him.
In November 2016, Superior Court Judge Robert Young sentenced Robertson to a total of 12 years in prison. After completing the prison term, the sentence called for one year in work release followed by two years of probation. The conviction brought the principal homicide prosecution stemming from Friend's death to a close more than a year after the shooting in the Pine Grove Apartments parking lot.
