In a tragic turn of events on March 11, 2014, 23-year-old Delante Eley, a male resident of Portsmouth, Virginia, was fatally shot. The incident occurred in the 4000 block of Ketch Drive, just down the road from the home he shared with his grandparents. At approximately 6:45 p.m., police received multiple calls about gunfire in the Churchland neighborhood. Witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored car speeding away from the scene shortly after the shots were fired.
Family members later shared the heartbreaking detail that Eley had been shot in the face.
The investigation into Eley's death continued for several years. In March 2019, a federal grand jury returned a 13-count indictment leading to the arrests of two Portsmouth men, Rashaun Taylor, also known as 'Diablo,' and Timothy Sawyer-House, also known as 'Trouble.' The indictment connected them to a racketeering conspiracy as alleged members of the Nine Trey Gangsters, a gang affiliated with the United Blood Nation. According to court documents, a series of altercations between Eley and members of Taylor's gang preceded the fatal encounter. On the day of the murder, it was alleged that Taylor and Sawyer-House followed Eley to his home where Taylor then shot and killed him.
Rashaun Taylor was charged with multiple offenses, including murder in aid of racketeering and use of a firearm resulting in death. In February 2020, a federal jury convicted Taylor on charges of racketeering conspiracy which included the murder of Delante Eley, as well as firearm and drug charges. Evidence presented at trial included cell phone analysis which showed Taylor's phone had been turned off for the two hours surrounding the murder and that nearly two hundred calls had been deleted. Furthermore, a confidential informant had videotaped a gang meeting led by Taylor, and he was later overheard admitting to the murder via a wire transmitter. He was subsequently sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Timothy Sawyer-House, who was in the vehicle with Taylor at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty in July 2019 to racketeering conspiracy and possessing a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. As a result of his guilty plea, he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. The investigation and subsequent convictions were part of a larger federal operation aimed at dismantling violent crime and drug trafficking organizations.
