Aracelio Pete Cruz, a 59-year-old White/Caucasian man from Wilmington, Delaware, was killed on the evening of January 31, 2019. Around 8:57 p.m. a patrol officer near Second Street and Van Buren Street heard several gunshots; responding officers found Cruz unresponsive in the 1100 block of Pleasant Street near North Van Buren Street, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The shooting was immediately treated as a homicide.

Detectives reconstructed the moments before the shooting and released surveillance footage nearly two months later seeking public help identifying an individual seen in the area. Investigators developed evidence that led them to identify 24-year-old Frederick Trice of Newark as the suspected shooter; police obtained a warrant and arrested him on April 9, 2019. Trice was charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, and was held on secured bail.

The reports do not describe a clear motive, the relationship between Cruz and Trice, or the specific evidence tying Trice to the killing, and they do not record any later court outcome. If anyone in Wilmington around Pleasant Street that night has information that could help, please contact the Wilmington Police Department.