The parent of the Delaware Christmas Eve shooting suspect is hinting at police misconduct.
On Christmas Eve of 2024, 14-year-old Black teen named Juwan Walker was sitting in a car in Dover, Delaware, with his mother, Victoria Sewell, when two teenagers approached the car. One of them, wearing a surgical mask, fired a shot at Walker.
According to the original police report, Walker was taken by air to a New Castle County hospital with a gunshot wound to the upper body, where he remained in a critical condition but later died.
Dover Police identified two suspects within four days. On December 28, 2024, officers arrested two Black teenagers, Marlo Tolliver, 13, and Tyreze Miller, 15, and charged both with second-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm or ammunition by a person prohibited, reckless endangering in the first degree and criminal mischief over $ 1,000 but under $5,000.
In an official statement, Dover PD said, “On 12/28/2024, the Dover Police Department’s Special Operations Response Team (S.O.R.T) executed a search warrant on a residence in the unit block of Stevenson Drive. The 13-year-old suspect was arrested during this search warrant. He was transported to Dover Police Department to be processed and arraigned.”
“Detectives arrested the 15-year-old male suspect at an apartment in the 400 block of Country Drive. He was taken to Dover Police Department to be processed and arraigned.”
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The two teenagers took different approaches after their arrest. While Tolliver accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to two years, Miller maintained his innocence and refused to accept a plea deal, presenting an alibi. His ex-girlfriend and her family told police that Miller was at their house, which is four miles away from the crime scene, on the evening of the shooting.
Since Miller rejected the plea deal, prosecutors are trying him as an adult, which means he could face life in prison if found guilty. Miller has remained in jail since his arrest and is scheduled to go to trial on August 10.
Miller’s mother, Davita Lopez, has alleged “prosecutorial misconduct as well as police misconduct.” She said that her son ran away from home in November 2024 to live with his girlfriend and her parents. She reported him as a runaway, and police located him on December 28. According to her, when Detective Gunner Goad asked for permission to question her son, he told her the questioning concerned a missed court date. He did not mention the murder investigation.
During the subsequent interrogation, Lopez and Miller’s attorneys allege that Detective Goad rushed through Miller’s Miranda rights. Detectives then confronted him with the murder allegation without presenting physical evidence. They claimed another suspect blamed him. Miller denied any involvement and repeatedly asked for his mother, but officers refused to allow her into the room for three hours.
When she was finally permitted in and asked what physical evidence detectives had against her son, they admitted they only relied on statements from other suspects. Miller never confessed to the shooting. His lawyers argued that police misled both Miller and his mother and used high-pressure tactics.
The evidence found during the investigation has raised questions about who was responsible for the shooting. The victim’s mother originally told police she saw two boys approach the car, but officers later said video footage showed three. Police got a tip about an Instagram call where Marlo Tolliver bragged about the shooting.
The tipster believed Tolliver’s brother, Quincy May, was the actual shooter. Police searched the brothers’ home and brought several teenagers in for questioning. The boys’ mother and Tolliver both blamed Tyreze Miller, though Tolliver gave conflicting statements and there was no physical evidence against Miller.
Police also found .40-caliber ammunition in May’s bedroom that matched shell casings from the crime scene. They also found clothing matching the victim’s mother’s description and a notebook filled with rap lyrics referencing the shooting.
Court documents reveal, “During their investigation, Dover Police Department officers identified two juvenile brothers, Marlo Tolliver and Quincy May, as primary suspects in Juwan Walker’s fatal shooting. Investigators obtained a recording of an Instagram video call from Tolliver’s account in which he discussed being present at the incident and shared specific details about the crime.”
“The recipient of the call, Leanna Kennedy, confirmed the conversation during an interview with police and stated that, based on what Tolliver told her, she believed May was the shooter. Kennedy explained that the attack appeared to stem from a conflict where Walker allegedly disrespected the brothers’ neighborhood. She also implicated another boy known only as “Zai,” who had reportedly told her two days prior to the incident that Walker was going to die,” the documents added.
Lopez believes people framed her son to protect another teenager, Micah Boyd, who she says resembles Miller and moved to Chicago after the shooting.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.
