In the early morning hours of November 24, 2014, a shooting at an apartment complex in Milton, Delaware, claimed the life of Rogelio “Chico” Martinez Hernandez, a 20-year-old Hispanic male, and left his younger brother critically injured. The brothers were sitting together inside a parked vehicle at the Park Royal Apartments, located at 501 Palmer Street, when gunfire erupted.
What began as an ordinary night ended in tragedy, leaving one brother dead and the other with devastating, permanent injuries.
At approximately 2:42 a.m., the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center received a 911 call reporting gunshots in the area of the apartment complex. A Milton police officer responded and discovered two shooting victims inside a vehicle parked outside the complex's 400 building. Both had suffered gunshot wounds and required immediate medical attention. The responding officer began administering first aid while awaiting the arrival of Sussex County paramedics and emergency medical personnel.
Both brothers were transported to a nearby hospital. Despite efforts to save him, Rogelio was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. His younger brother, who was only 14 years old, survived the shooting but remained in critical condition. The injuries he sustained were catastrophic. According to information subsequently released by the Delaware State Police, the teenager was left paralyzed and unable to speak, consequences that dramatically altered his life.
Following the shooting, the Milton Police Department requested assistance from the Delaware State Police Homicide Unit, which assumed responsibility for investigating the case. Detectives began interviewing potential witnesses, collecting physical evidence, and examining the circumstances surrounding the attack. Investigators worked to determine who had fired the shots, what prompted the violence, and whether the brothers had been deliberately targeted.
The location of the shooting became an important part of the investigation. Both victims had been seated inside the same vehicle in a residential apartment complex parking lot when they were struck. However, authorities did not publicly establish a motive in the available investigative summaries. Police also did not disclose enough information to determine whether the shooting resulted from a personal dispute, a planned attack, or some other confrontation. The precise sequence of events immediately preceding the gunfire remained unclear in the publicly available accounts.
Detective Jon King of the Delaware State Police was identified as an investigator associated with the homicide. Authorities appealed to anyone who might have witnessed suspicious activity, heard or seen anything around the time of the shooting, or possessed information concerning those responsible. Investigators also encouraged individuals to provide anonymous tips through Delaware Crime Stoppers.
As the years passed, the investigation remained listed among the Delaware State Police's unsolved homicide cases. A cold-case bulletin issued by the agency identified Rogelio Hernandez as the victim, documented the November 24, 2014, killing, and described the severe injuries suffered by his younger brother. The case was assigned number 07-14-073744. The bulletin continued to seek information from the public, demonstrating that investigators were still interested in identifying those responsible for the attack.
The publicly available Delaware State Police cold-case information does not identify a named suspect or document an arrest connected to Rogelio's murder. No independently verified reports were located establishing that anyone had been formally charged, prosecuted, tried, or convicted for the shooting. Although additional investigative developments may have occurred outside the publicly accessible records, the available official information does not establish that the homicide has been judicially resolved.
The circumstances surrounding Rogelio's death are particularly tragic because the attack destroyed one young life while leaving another permanently affected. His brother survived, but the paralysis and loss of speech described by state investigators represented a devastating outcome for a teenager who had been sitting beside his older sibling when the shots were fired.
More than a decade after the shooting, the publicly available record continues to leave important questions unanswered. Who approached or fired upon the vehicle, why the brothers were attacked, and whether anyone witnessed the gunman remain unresolved in the official cold-case information. Rogelio's death remains a reminder of the lasting consequences of gun violence, not only for those who lose their lives but also for the survivors and families left to cope with the aftermath. Delaware State Police have directed individuals with information about the homicide to their Cold Case Unit at 302-739-5939, with the hope that additional evidence or witness information could eventually establish who was responsible.
