A New Castle woman has been sentenced to life in prison for a violent crime spree that occurred more than three years ago, marking the end of a lengthy legal process that began in March 2022.
On October 24, 2025, 34-year-old Brittallia Semaan received two life sentences plus 45 years after being found guilty but mentally ill on 31 charges. The convictions included Murder First Degree, Felony Murder First Degree, Robbery First Degree, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony, Assault First Degree, and Kidnapping First Degree. Several other charges originally filed in 202, including multiple counts of terroristic threatening, vehicular homicide, and several traffic violations were not mentioned by the DOJ.
The events leading to the charges unfolded on the morning of March 13, 2022, when Semaan committed a series of violent acts across New Castle County.
Investigators said Semaan carjacked a Chevrolet Trax from a couple in their 60s, biting and striking one of them as two children escaped from the backseat. She then fled southbound on Route 9, where she intentionally struck and killed 48-year-old pedestrian Joseph Stanavich. Continuing her flight, she drove into the parking lot of the Brandywine Valley SPCA and struck a 19-year-old woman before colliding head-on with a Maserati at Route 141 and Washington Street, injuring both occupants.
At that scene, a bystander attempted to assist but became the victim of a second carjacking when Semaan entered his Ford Explorer and drove off with a 77-year-old woman still inside. As she fled again, she rear-ended a Honda Odyssey near Hamburg Road, injuring both the older passenger and the other driver.
An off-duty Wilmington police officer and a former New Castle County police officer, both witnesses to the final crash, intervened to detain Semaan until Delaware State Police arrived.
Semaan was arrested that day and initially charged with kidnapping, robbery, vehicular homicide, reckless endangering, and other related offenses. She was committed to the Delores J. Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution on a $254,000 cash bond pending trial.
The case, which began with a series of chaotic incidents in 2022, concluded in October 2025 after more than three years of court proceedings, marking one of Delaware’s most violent and complex crime sprees in recent years.
