Three teens make first appearances as suspects in two separate Wilmington murders
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) –Three teenagers made their first appearances in New Hanover County juvenile court on Tuesday morning, as suspects in two separate deadly shootings that took place over the weekend.
The teenagers include two 16-year-olds charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Jailin Tilghman-Deablo, and a 17-year-old charged in the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old, whose name has not been released.
The two 16-year-olds are charged with first degree murder, and are two of the four suspects charged in Jailin Tilghman-Deablo’s death.
That shooting happened on Friday afternoon in the 1200 block of Buckingham Avenue.
Also charged with first degree murder is a 17-year-old, accused of shooting and killing another 17-year-old Saturday night in the 500 block of Anderson Street.
“This is a sad day in Wilmington. We’re talking about not one, but two young people who have been murdered, and 5 different young people all under the age of, –well 19. There’s two 18-years-olds, there’s a 17-year-old, and two 16-year-olds, who are all charged with first degree murder, that could carry life without parole. This is not a good day for anybody in the criminal justice system,” said Ben David, New Hanover & Pender Counties District Attorney.
The district’s attorney’s office says it intends to transfer all three teens in both cases to superior court, to be tried as adults.
According to the Wilmington Police Department, these two cases are not believed to be connected, but David advises teens to not retaliate the violence.
“I’m not going to speak to the facts of any specific pending case, but what I will tell you is that a lot of times what we see is retaliatory violence out there, and that we need our young people in particular to trust in the system enough to report their victimization, rather than take the law into their own hands, because when that occurs they only compound the tragedy and maybe make themselves defendants,” said David.
In the community, Port City United, a New Hanover County Department with a goal of identifying and preventing violence from happening in the community was present at the first appearances for the teens, and provided WWAY with the following statement:
“Port City United is actively working in the community with our mediation and outreach team to try and deescalate violence and respond to the shootings that have occurred over the past several days. Our team is also within our neighborhoods to support the shooting victims, their friends and families who have all been impacted.”
All three teens are being held at New Hanover County’s Juvenile Detention Center, and the cases are still under investigation and October 25 is the next court date for all three.
