Prosecutors: Discarded Wawa, McDonald's receipts link teens to Wilmington homicide
Prosecutors told a jury on Wednesday that discarded receipts from McDonald's and Wawa tie teens Abdullah Brown and Deonta Carney to the September 2016 homicide of 19-year-oldKeshall "KeKe" Anderson.
Brown and Carney are accused of first-degree murder, attempted murderand weapons charges. Testimony in their trial began Wednesday with prosecutors pointing a finger at Brown as the gunman in the back seat with Carney in the car during the fatal drive-by shooting.
Both were 16 when Anderson was killed shortly after midnight Sept. 18, 2016, on the 200 block of W. 20th St. in Wilmington – a short distance from where she lived.
Deputy Attorney General Dan McBride told the jury in his opening statements that witnesses will describe seeing a gunman fire from the back of a black Chevrolet Impala.
One of many shots fired at the scene hit Anderson in the back, traveled through her lung and lodged in her heart. Another went through her foot, and she came to rest on the lawn of a nearby home.
"She tried to run," McBride told the jury. "She gasped trying to take what was her last breath."
McBride said the gunman shot "into a group." When Brown and Carney were indicted, Wilmington police had said Anderson was likely not the target. The 2015 graduate of McKean High was raising a 7-month-old son when she died.
Another teen who had been walking with Anderson survived a shot to the rear end and one in his ankle.
McBride told the jury that evidence found in two cars will tie Carney and Brown to the killing.
The first car, the black Impala, was abandoned in Wilmington days after the shooting. Inside, investigators found 9 mm casings that ballistically match those found at the scene as well as Brown's fingerprints on the car.
They also found two receipts from McDonald's on 41st Street in Wilmington.
Surveillance footage from when one receipt was issued shows Brown in the Impala ordering chicken nuggets from the drive-thru less than a day before the killing, McBride said. Footage synced with the other receipt shows Brown in the Impala ordering food two days after the shooting, McBride said.
The car was stolen from a BP gas station days before the killing, McBride said. He added that security footage at the station shows Brown and another teen stealing the car.
McBride also drew the jury's attention to another car: a Volvo sedan that was recovered in Wilmington's Riverside neighborhood the same day of the shooting. Inside, investigators also found 9 mm shell casings that ballistically match those at the scene and Brown's fingerprints on the car, McBride said.
Police also found a .40-caliber casing at the scene that matched one in the Volvo, prosecutors said.
A Wawa receipt from days before, the same day the Impala was stolen, was found in the car and is also of note, McBride said. When investigators viewed surveillance footage of when the receipt was issued, they saw Carney in the store.
Police also found a 9 mm matching the crime-scene casings on Carney when he was arrested.
One of Carney's attorneys said the state does not have physical evidence to put their client at the scene the night of the shooting.
"One witness is the link between Deonta Carney and the black Impala," said Brett Hession, an attorney representing Carney.
He later added: "That witness has significant reliability concerns."
In his opening statement, McBride listed a series of witnesses the prosecution will call over the coming week. Most important will likely be a 13-year-old who was in the area of the shooting at the time.
He was the only witness that McBride said had identified Carney and Brown, who had chest-length, braided hair at the time, at the slaying scene. McBride said the teen picked the two out of a photo lineup and identified them by their nicknames – Dink and Dullah.
"There is going to be some conflicts in the witness testimony," said Peter Veith, an attorney representing Brown told the jury.
What likely won't be discussed at trial is what investigators believe was the defendants' motive in the shooting. McBride told the jury that proof of motive is not necessary for a conviction.
"It is not clear why KeKe had to lose her life that night," McBride said.
As juveniles, Brown and Carney face the prospect of 25 years to life if the jury finds them guilty of first-degree murder.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.
PRIOR COVERAGE:
Family of slain Delaware woman: 'She would have been 20 today'
Two teens charged in Sept. killing of Wilmington woman
How a straw purchase in Delaware led to an innocent mom's death
