WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A federal grand jury returned a new indictment against five men accused of a series of violent crimes including kidnapping and killing a Delaware woman and shooting a 6-year-old boy in the head.
The indictment handed down Wednesday charges Ryan Bacon, Michael Pritchett, Dion Oliver, Maurice Cooper and Teres Tinnin with conspiracy, stalking and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. All but Tinnin are charged with kidnapping. All face potential life sentences if convicted.
Authorities have said the charges stem from a feud dating to at least 2014 between Bacon and Markevis Stanford. The feud escalated into violence and attempted shootings involving both men and their associates. It culminated in the kidnapping and killing of Stanford’s girlfriend, 28-year-old Keyonna Perkins, in June 2017 and the shooting of 6-year-old JaShown Banner that same day.
Prosecutors say a bullet struck the boy in the head while Oliver was shooting at Stanford. Banner was left paralyzed and brain damaged.
The new indictment removes the name of another defendant in the case who pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Dontae Sykes pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy, stalking, kidnapping resulting in death and possession of a firearm while stalking another person. The kidnapping conviction carries a mandatory life prison sentence and a potential death sentence.
Sykes’ girlfriend, Jaclyn McCain, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2018 to four counts of lying to FBI agents and one count of obstructing the investigation into Perkins’ death. Perkins was found shot to death in Elkton, Maryland, after being kidnapped and thrown into the trunk of a car in Delaware.
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