Wilmington Police are currently probing into a fatal assault that claimed the life of 49-year-old Lisa Fakis on Lombard Street. Details released from the Wilmington Police Department report indicate that the tragic event unfolded late in the evening of October 24, around 9:07 p.m., leading to Fakis being discovered unresponsive and her subsequent pronouncement of death at a local hospital.
During the swift response to the incident, a suspect, identified as 31-year-old Laverne Sealey, was spotted in the vicinity by the officers conducting an area search and taken into custody without any purported difficulty. Despite the lack of resistance during her arrest, the gravity of the confrontation that led to Fakis's untimely demise is pressing hard upon the community's conscience.
Sealey now faces charges of First Degree Robbery and Second Degree Assault, a consequential outcome of her alleged actions. She was arraigned at the New Castle County Court of Common Pleas, where a bail was set at a cash-only amount of $140,000 and was confined at the Delores J. Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution. As the investigation carries on, bolstered by the findings of the Delaware Division of Forensic Sciences, charges are being reevaluated by detectives and the Delaware Department of Justice is being consulted to contemplate elevating Sealey's charges in the wake of this incident.
"The case was assigned to Detective Brendan Shea of the Criminal Investigations Division," was how the confirmation of assignment to the lead investigator on the case was worded in the official statement. The public is urged by the Wilmington Police to step forward with any potentially valuable information regarding this incident and to reach out to Detective Brendan Shea directly at (302) 576-3649 or to opt for anonymity via Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 or their website.
The Wilmington Police Department’s Victim Services Unit is offering assistance to those affected by crime. Their services, including referrals, can be accessed by contacting (302) 576-3622. In response to the incident, which includes children who may need coping assistance, the WPD Youth Response Unit is also extending its services for counseling and can be reached at (302) 576-3183.
