A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to prison in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred in Wilmington in 2021.
On December 18, 2025, Michael Samuel “Pacho” Bernier was sentenced to 18 years of incarceration after being convicted in New Castle County Superior Court of one count of Murder Second Degree.
The conviction stems from the killing of 20-year-old Marquis Lopez Jr., who was shot during the early morning hours of October 17, 2021. According to court records and police investigators, Lopez was walking in the 1500 block of West 3rd Street at approximately 1:56 a.m. when he was confronted by Bernier. Investigators determined the two men had been involved in a dispute over money related to a drug transaction.
Surveillance video from a nearby business showed Bernier leaving a nearby bar, driving up to Lopez in a silver Cadillac CTS, and firing multiple shots before fleeing the area. Lopez was found suffering from gunshot wounds and was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
At the time, Wilmington Police reported that the killing marked the city’s 30th shooting death of 2021.
