A 49-year-old Laurel man was found shot to death in his driveway around 12:30 a.m. Thursday after a drug deal went bad.
Delaware State Police said they responded to the 18000 block of Laurel Road for a report of a shooting and found the victim with a gunshot wound to his upper torso. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The person who reported the incident told police he picked up 18-year-old Josiah Garrison of Denton, Maryland, and a man later identified as 21-year-old Ramon Duker, of Millsboro, at the Millsboro Wawa, according to court documents. He took them to an acquaintance’s house to buy some marijuana, court documents say, but instead, they robbed the victim of the marijuana and shot him. They then ordered the reporting person to drive them away from the scene at gunpoint, their arrest warrants say.
During the ride, Garrison said he’d been stabbed. The driver dropped them off on Carey’s Camp Road, according to court documents, and returned to the residence to find the victim dead.
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Police found a bloody knife and a fired cartridge case at the scene, according to court documents, and blood on and in the reporting person’s vehicle. A fingerprint on the exterior of the vehicle was found to be Garrison’s, police said, and the driver identified Duker as his accomplice in a photo lineup.
Around 2:20 p.m. that afternoon, Garrison sought treatment for a stab wound to his right forearm at Beebe Medical Center, police said. Duker was one of three men that accompanied him.
Both were taken into custody at the hospital and charged with first-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy, second-degree kidnapping and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. They were committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $1,146,000 cash bond each.
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Police will identify the victim after his family is notified.
Anyone who witnessed or has information regarding this incident should contact Detective B. McDerby at 302-741-2821. Information may also be provided by sending a Delaware State Police a Facebook message.
Information may be provided anonymously by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 800-TIP-3333.
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