Jordan Michael Peck, an 18-year-old Black man from Dover, Delaware, was found dead beside railroad tracks on the morning of January 25, 2015. At approximately 10:29 a.m., a witness called police after discovering his body south of Walker Road, near the City of Dover warehouse. Officers responded to the stretch of tracks between Walker Road and Division Street, where Jordan had suffered two gunshot wounds—one to his upper torso and another to his head.
What began as a report of a body beside the railroad became an investigation into a fatal shooting.
Jordan attended Dover High School and enjoyed basketball, skateboarding, and music. He was survived by his mother, Michelle D. Peck; his father, Barry M. Johnson; three sisters; a brother; and his grandmothers. His family arranged a viewing and funeral service for February 5, 2015, at Calvary Baptist Church in Dover. In condolences posted after his death, former teachers remembered his humor, leadership qualities, and engaging personality.
In its initial announcement on January 26, the Dover Police Department described Jordan's death as suspicious and disclosed that investigators had already questioned at least one person of interest. The department withheld further details while its Criminal Investigations Unit worked on the case. By January 29, local reporting confirmed that the death had been ruled a homicide, although no suspect had yet been publicly named in that report.
As detectives reconstructed Jordan's movements before his death, telephone records pointed to a planned meeting with Darryl Garner of Camden. Police said Garner acknowledged the meeting and that surveillance footage corroborated it. Investigators questioned him early in the case, but according to the department, he gave untruthful statements despite evidence detectives had already obtained. A search warrant subsequently led investigators to clothing Garner had worn on the night associated with Jordan's death. Testing detected gunshot residue on those clothes. Over the following months, detectives collected witness statements that, together with the other evidence, led them to bring charges.
On November 9, 2015, Garner was formally charged with first-degree murder, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, and theft under $1,500. Dover police announced the arrest the following day. Garner was already in custody: he had been incarcerated since January 26 on unrelated second-degree rape charges. The homicide charges therefore came more than nine months after Jordan's body was discovered, while Garner remained jailed in the separate case.
The prosecution ultimately resulted in a guilty plea to manslaughter in Jordan's killing rather than a first-degree murder conviction. In an announcement dated February 17, 2017, the Delaware Department of Justice reported that Garner had received a combined sentence of 19 years in prison for manslaughter, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and separate rape offenses. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree rape involving an underage girlfriend. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clark imposed the sentences, which were secured by Deputy Attorney General Kathleen Dickerson. The announced prison term covered both the offenses connected to Jordan's death and the unrelated sexual offenses, not the killing alone.
