Wilmington Police Department's dedication to solving long-standing mysteries has brought new developments in a cold case from 2017. According to Nixle, their Cold Case Unit successfully identified and arrested a second suspect tied to the murder of 34-year-old Jermaine Francois, who was tragically shot on East 14th Street over eight years ago.
The initial response to the shooting, on January 11, 2017, discovered Francois in critical condition before he later died from his injuries. The years following showed little progress, until Cold Case Investigators Steven Rizzo, Mariana Espinosa, and Detective Devon Jones honed in on Robin Webster in April 2024, leading to an arrest. Further investigation continued, and on February 17, Kenneth Bleen was indicted by the New Castle County Grand Jury following their efforts.
As reported by Nixle, Kenneth Bleen, now charged with first-degree murder, faces a justice system where second chances are scarce for such grave accusations. His arraignment at Justice of the Peace Court 11 resulted in confinement at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution with a cash-only bail set at a hefty $1,000,000.
