Milton murder suspect freed from prison
All charges have been dropped against Carlos J. Feliciano-Concepcion, the only suspect in a November 2014 shooting in Milton that left one man dead and his teenage brother paralyzed.
Feliciano-Concepcion's attorney, Stephen Welsh, said Aug. 15 that on Aug. 12, about a month before a jury trial was expected to begin in Sussex County Superior Court, the Department of Justice dropped all charges – first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and wearing a disguise during the commission of a felony.
Welsh said he believes Feliciano-Concepcion, who has been in jail for 20 months, was released from prison the following day.
“Based upon information which witnesses only recently provided to us, it became apparent that we lacked sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant committed the crime,” said Carl Kanefsky, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office. He declined to comment on the next steps in the case or whether another suspect has been identified.
The fatal shooting occurred shortly before 3 a.m., Nov. 24, 2014, in the parking lot of Park Royal Apartments on Palmer Street in Milton. Rogelio “Chico” Martinez-Hernandez, 20, was sitting in a parked vehicle with his younger brother when he was fatally shot. His brother, Marlon Martinez-Hernandez, then 14, was paralyzed from the neck down after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.
Feliciano-Concepcion was identified as a suspect in the shooting after police said Marlon Martinez-Hernandez told responding officer Lt. Derrick Harvey of the Milton Police Department that the shooter sounded like his brother's best friend “Macho,” also known as Feliciano-Concepcion. A police investigation and testimony during a preliminary hearing in January 2015 revealed that Feliciano-Concepcion's brother, Juan, told police Feliciano-Concepcion admitted to him that he had shot Rogelio and his younger brother and then buried the weapon.
Feliciano-Concepcion was arrested in December 2014. The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered, police said.
During a suppression hearing in June 2016, testimony from responding officers, including Harvey, who was first on the scene, and several state police troopers revealed no audio or video evidence from the crime scene had been preserved. Welsh questioned the admissibility of Harvey's account of information relayed by the surviving victim the night of the crime, arguing it was unreliable hearsay with no supporting evidence.
The hearing also revealed at least two responding state police officers failed to file police reports on the incident until more than a year later when the officers were told they might have to testify at the June suppression hearing.
Delaware State Police spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said the homicide investigation is ongoing. The police agency does not provide comments on any court decisions, he said.
Milton Police Department Chief Robert Longo also declined to comment on the state's decision to drop the charges.
