Teens plead guilty in shooting death of Keshall 'KeKe' Anderson
Xerxes WilsonTwo teens have pleaded guilty to charges in the shooting death of Wilmington teenager Keshall "KeKe" Anderson in 2016.
Deonta Carney, 18, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide on Tuesday. Abdullah Brown, also 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and a weapons charge on Wednesday.
Both were facing a second trial in the killing in the coming month but this week reached plea agreements. Charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses were dropped.
They will be sentenced later this year.
Background:No verdict in 'KeKe' Anderson murder, mistrial declared
The two were already tried for the killing of Anderson last year. A mistrial was declared as the jury considered verdicts because one of the jurors failed to report for a second day of deliberation after the week-long trial.
During that trial, multiple witnesses testified to seeing a black Chevrolet Impala spray bullets onto the 200 block of W. 20th Street in Wilmington on Sept. 18, 2016, killing Anderson and injuring a man.
While multiple witnesses testified to seeing the drive-by, a then-14-year-old boy was the only person to point a finger at Carney, as the driver, and Brown, as the shooter, that killed the 19-year-old Anderson.
Background:From the witness stand, 14-year-old boy pins murder on two 17-year-olds
The circumstantial evidence was stronger.
Days after the shooting, investigators recovered a black Impala with shell casings and gunshot residue on the back seat of the car, which video from a local gas station appears to show Brown and another teen stealing, prosecutors said.
McDonald's receipts located inside also led investigators to video of Brown in the car smiling as he ordered food from the drive-thru on days before and after the killing.
Investigators said shell casings from the Impala and the crime scene were fired by the same gun, a 9mm found with Carney when he was arrested weeks after the shooting. He told police at the time he found it in the woods in Edgemoor.
Carney's fingerprints are not found on the Impala, and he can't be identified on surveillance video at the McDonald's.
Carney faces up to eight years in jail. Brown faces up to 25 years in jail for the manslaughter charge.
Investigators said that Anderson was not the target of the shooting.
Last year, Anderson's family sued sporting goods retailer Cabela's, claiming the company's negligence caused her death because the murder weapon was sold to a woman who then turned it over to her boyfriend who was legally barred from buying a firearm.
The retailer has denied legal liability and moved to dismiss the lawsuit.
Background:Lawsuit filed against Cabela's by family of Wilmington woman killed with straw purchase gun
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.
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