Days after a neighbor was killed in Dayquane Barnes’ Wilmington apartment building, the 31-year-old podcaster posted an Instagram video of himself working out with a voiceover: “I battle demons every day that no one knows anything about ….”
Now Barnes, who used his podcast and social media accounts to push for accountability, responsibility and positiveness, is facing murder charges after police said they found his DNA on a mask used in the Dec. 1 slaying of Lerrie Tate. The men lived in separate units of the same apartment building in the city’s Trinity Vicinity neighborhood.
Barnes is being held at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution.
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Before his Aug. 8 arrest, Barnes could be found on various social media platforms espousing at times misogynistic and often profanity-laced statements on what he believed was right and how people should take responsibility for their actions.
That includes a post he made eight days after Tate’s killing in which Barnes appears to tell his 34,000 Instagram followers what it’s like to have to look over your back after committing a heinous crime and asks what people are prepared to do if they want to live a “demon” life.
Barnes runs down a list of examples, such as asking if they are:
- Prepared to lose sleep.
- Be extra vigilant when opening doors, including to their home.
- Able to quickly monitor streets, cars and people when leaving their houses.
- Willing to limit what you can do when you don’t have a gun.
“You gotta literally, literally lose your (expletive) soul and a lot of you (expletive) don’t have the capacity to do that,” he said. “You don’t want to be a demon. It’s very short-lived and it ain’t fruitful at all. I promise.”
Barnes ends the video by saying that people who live this life don’t glorify it as rappers do.
“I’m telling you, (expletive) during that time, walk amongst you like a regular human being and you’ll never (expletive) know,” Barnes said. “(Expletive) don’t glorify that (expletive) when going through that (expletive).
“I promise you.”
Six days after his arrest, a New Castle County grand jury indicted Barnes, adding more weapon charges and one count of burglary.
While police linked Barnes to Tate’s killing using DNA from a discarded mask and surveillance footage, investigators in court documents did not explain Barnes’ motive for killing the 44-year-old barber.
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How police charged Barnes
Wilmington police were dispatched to the Trinity Vicinity about 2:10 p.m. for a complaint of a woman screaming while on the sidewalk of the 1000 block of N. Madison St., according to court documents.
Arriving officers found the woman and were told a man had been shot in a first-floor apartment on that block.
Officers searched the apartment building and found Tate on the floor of a bedroom suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Tate was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A witness told officers that a man wearing a black mask and a black hooded sweatshirt had shot Tate. While the shooter wore a mask, the witness said they could see the gunman’s eyes were “light.”
Officers found a black hooded sweatshirt and a black mask, which was given to the department’s forensic services unit for DNA testing.
Investigators also reviewed surveillance video from area cameras, which showed a masked man wearing a hooded sweatshirt. The video revealed the man was wearing black-colored sweatpants with green and yellow designs and all-white sneakers.
While the masked man ran out of frame, police said, he could be seen running in the direction of where the hooded sweatshirt and mask would later be found.
Viewing video footage from other surveillance cameras, police were able to see a man wearing similar clothing get in and out of a red Lexus sedan earlier that day. A police body-worn camera was able to pick up the Lexus’ registration.
In June, investigators received DNA results from the forensic unit with a preliminary association to Barnes, according to court records.
Investigators found Barnes lived in the same building as Tate. They also learned Barnes owned a red Lexus, which had the same temporary registration as the car seen on surveillance footage.
Because the Lexus’ temporary registration was issued the same day as Tate’s killing, investigators reviewed surveillance video from the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles.
Barnes, according to court documents, was seen inside the DMV, wearing black Nike sweatpants with a white Nike Swoosh on the left thigh, a black in color hooded sweatshirt with a green and yellow design on the front and back of same, and all-white sneakers.
“His face was visible and your affiant was able to identify him as Barnes,” court documents state.
While Barnes is seen in video leaving the apartment building wearing different clothing after the homicide, investigators note in court documents that a witness told them that after seeing a muscular man remove and abandon a hooded sweatshirt and mask, the muscular man ran into an alley.
The alley, according to investigators, provides access to the rear of the apartment building “where the incident occurred.”
Investigators obtained a search warrant on Aug. 7 and arrested Barnes the following day during a vehicle stop in the 1000 block of N. Madison St.
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
