An 18-year-old Wilmington man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 2017 murder in the city.
WILMINGTON (DE): According to the Department of Justice, “In July 2017, 23-year-old David Bailey was shot at the intersection of Beech and South Van Buren Streets and taken to Christiana Hospital where he died. A short time later, Miles went to St. Francis Hospital seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to his arm. Despite giving police and hospital staff an alias, an investigation determined Miles’ identity, and identified him as Bailey’s shooter.”
Wilmington police used surveillance video to identify Miles as he arrived at the hospital wearing the same outfit as a man fleeing the shooting scene, court papers say. In video footage, a man is also seen placing a blue pad over his arm in a vehicle near the shooting scene, which is what Miles had over his gunshot wound when he arrived at the hospital.
Miles pleaded guilty in August 2019 to Murder Second Degree. A Superior Court judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison, followed by 6 months of either home confinement or work release, then 2 years of probation.
During sentencing, Superior Court Judge Ferris W. Wharton expressed remorse that the court could not solve the many issues that led to and resulted in Bailey’s fatal shooting in Wilmington.
As Wharton handed down the sentence, he looked at Bailey’s supporters and said that no prison sentence, short or extensive would bring David back. He then looked at the defendant, Aaron Miles, and said releasing him to the streets today, would not fix his upbringing by a mother who herself was a child when she tried to raise him or the abuse he experienced while in juvenile detention. “There is nothing the court can do to rectify that,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that people who could make a difference “aren’t here to see this.”
