Wilkerson receives two life sentences for Heacook murder

After being found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in October, Randon Wilkerson was sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional 212 years in prison for the murder of Delmar police officer Cpl. Keith Heacook in April 2021.

Besides the murder charges, Wilkerson, 32, was found guilty of 16 different charges in a bench trial overseen by Delaware Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz. While Heacook was the only person who died the night of April 25, 2021, Delaware law allowed Wilkerson to be charged for an additional count of first-degree murder because Heacook was a police officer. 

Wilkerson, who was sentenced Dec. 8, at Delaware Superior Court in Georgetown, faced mandatory life sentences for both the murder charges. The additional years were for two counts of first-degree assault, multiple counts of possession of a deadly weapon during commission of a felony, a count of third-degree assault, and terroristic threatening, among other charges. 

Wilkerson elected a bench trial instead of jury trial due, in part, to the evidence against him and to move forward with an appeal faster. That meant there was no eyewitness testimony from the stand at the Oct. 16 trial and little physical evidence presented. Instead, Karsnitz entered in two pieces of evidence: a statement of the facts as agreed on by Deputy Attorney General David Hume and defense attorney Patrick Collins, and a 17-minute body cam video.

According to the agreed-upon facts, Heacook responded alone to the home of Charles Meagher, where Wilkerson had been staying with six other people. According to Wilkerson’s housemates, he had taken methamphetamine, crack cocaine and heroin, and he had also been drinking because it was his birthday. Wilkerson had argued with his girlfriend and, at one point, assaulted her. Wilkerson had been behaving erratically and turned violent, throwing a 10-pound dumbbell at one roommate’s door, and he had fought with Meagher.

When Heacook entered the house, Wilkerson assaulted him with a dumbbell and, later, Heacook’s police baton. Heacook was pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the assault. Wilkerson then went to the nearby home of Steve and Judy Franklin, claiming that someone had been raped at his house. Unprovoked, Wilkerson attacked them with a porcelain figurine. For reasons unknown, Wilkerson stopped his assault and left the home. 

Body camera footage shown at the trial shows responding officers finding Heacook facedown on the floor. 

Wilkerson was taken to Delaware State Police Troop 5 in Bridgeville. During his time in custody, police overheard Wilkerson say, “I beat the cop in the head. I smashed his head.” A digital recorder was placed near the holding area where Wilkerson was detained. On the tape, which was not played in court, Wilkerson said he smashed Heacook over the head with a weight. Later, while waiting for arraignment with a justice of the peace, Wilkerson admitted in front of a police officer that he killed “that police officer that walked in the house.”

Later investigation found Wilkerson’s DNA on Heacook’s baton and notepad, and at the Franklins’ house.