A New Jersey man has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the 2023 shooting death of Dennis Davis in Wilmington. The case concluded with a plea agreement that reduced several of the original charges initially filed following the fatal incident.
On April 9, 2025, 35-year-old Deontay Willingham of Bridgeton, New Jersey, was sentenced to 26 years in prison after entering a guilty plea to Murder Second Degree, Robbery Second Degree, and two counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.
The charges to which Willingham pleaded guilty were reduced from a series of more severe original charges. Following his indictment in June 2023, Willingham had faced charges of Murder First Degree, Murder During the Commission of a Felony, Robbery First Degree, three counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, and Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon. The plea agreement resulted in the dismissal or reduction of several of these counts.
The charges originated from a shooting that occurred on June 11, 2023, in the area of East 23rd Street and North Market Street in Wilmington. Authorities said Willingham approached 37-year-old Dennis Davis and engaged him in conversation before shooting him twice without provocation. After the shooting, Willingham stole a necklace pendant from Davis and fled the scene.
Emergency responders arrived on scene at approximately 2:16 p.m. and located Davis suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to Christiana Hospital where he later died from his injuries. The investigation was assigned to Detective Derek Haines of the Wilmington Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Willingham as the suspect. The case was presented to a New Castle County Grand Jury on June 20, 2023, and an indictment was returned. Willingham was apprehended in Pennsylvania on July 5, 2023, in connection with an unrelated matter. He was later extradited to Delaware to face charges in the homicide case.
Willingham was arraigned on July 21, 2023, in Justice of the Peace Court 20 and held at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $1.5 million cash-only bail. The guilty plea in 2025 brought an end to the prosecution, with the court imposing a total of 26 years in prison as part of the sentencing agreement.