The Gwinnett County Police Department's efforts to solve a 2022 cold case homicide have recently been rewarded with an arrest, thanks to a collaboration with the New York Police Department. In a statement obtained by Gwinnett County news, authorities shared that the Gwinnett County Police Homicide Unit identified 20-year-old Delano Hill from Suwanee as the suspect after the NYPD came across a connection to an unsolved homicide from September 2022 in their area. Hill provided details during an investigation related to another crime, which led to a breakthrough in the Georgia case.
On March 21, Delano Hill was apprehended at his residence, and later taken for questioning by the Gwinnett Homicide Unit, before being incarcerated at the Gwinnett County Jail. Charged with aggravated assault, felony murder, and malice murder, Hill's capture sprouted from a lead that originated far from the scene of the crime but proved critical in piecing together the puzzle of a man's untimely death on Ridge Oak Drive.
Recalling the original crime, a grim discovery was made on the morning of September 5, 2022. Gwinnett County Police responded to a medical emergency, only to find a male in his 40s stabbed to death, sprawled across the front yard of a Ridge Oak Drive home. The motive was a mystery, and the case lay dormant until detectives recently saw new life breathed into their enquiries. Investigators believe that a black-hooded individual, with a reflective strip on their garment, seen in camera footage near the crime scene, may hold the key to further untold truths. If anyone saw this individual or has footage from that day, they are urged to step forward, to not only shed light on cold facts but also to provide some semblance of justice to those who mourn in the shadow of what once was.
Gwinnett Police are still open to information that could help their investigation, calling upon the community to aid in bringing full closure to a saga that's verged on the edge of oblivion. The request for public assistance was reiterated with a plea to identify another individual seen on surveillance walking in the vicinity of the homicide site. "The suspect is wearing a black hoodie with a reflective strip, black pants, white shoes, and carrying a two-strap backpack," they described, indicating that every detail on the Gwinnett County website, however small, holds the potential to tip the scales of justice. Those with insights are encouraged to call the Gwinnett Police Homicide Unit at 770-513-5300 or, for anonymity, contact Crime Stoppers tipline.
While the relief of progress permeates the air, the true weight of the crime lingers heavy. A family's peace has been shattered; a suspect now faces the possibility of a lifetime behind bars, and a community grapples with the enduring aftershocks of violence. As the Homicide Unit continues to solicit the public's help, they echo a reminder that the fight for justice is a collective endeavor, a chorus of voices that rises in the face of silence to pronounce an indictment not merely on one man but upon the very act that estranged a life from its rightful course.
