Shalita Middleton

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Delaware State University Police Department And Dover Police Department (DE)

Offense Location:

Dover, Delaware

Summary:

Shalita Kiara Middleton was a 17-year-old freshman biology major from Washington, D.C., at Delaware State University who was shot on campus on September 21, 2007, and died from her injuries on October 23, 2007. An 18-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with murder, but charges were dismissed in May 2009 due to lack of evidence and eyewitness testimony that the suspect was not the shooter. The case remains unsolved.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On September 21, 2007, at approximately 12:54 a.m., shots were fired on the Delaware State University campus near Memorial Hall gymnasium on the Campus Mall. A group of approximately nine students was walking on campus when multiple shots were fired from a darkened location at a distance. Shalita Middleton was shot twice in the abdomen. Another student, Nathaniel Pugh, was shot in the ankle, and a third student was shot at but not wounded. Middleton was rushed to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, where she remained hospitalized in serious condition.

Additional Details:

Middleton struggled with her injuries for 32 days but never regained consciousness. She died on October 23, 2007, at approximately 3:30 p.m. at Christiana Hospital from internal injuries that proved too critical to overcome. She was laid to rest on October 30, 2007, at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and buried at National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery in Hyattsville, Maryland. Loyer D. Braden, an 18-year-old Delaware State University freshman from East Orange, New Jersey, was arrested on September 24, 2007, and charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangering, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was expelled from the university. The charges were later upgraded to second-degree murder after Middleton's death. However, a witness who was with Middleton at the time of the shooting told authorities that two men with dreadlocks wearing white t-shirts were responsible for the shooting, not Braden. Crucial witness interview evidence was not disclosed to the defense until April 8, 2009—more than a year and a half after it was conducted. On May 19, 2009, the Superior Court dismissed all charges against Braden due to lack of evidence and the prosecutor's withholding of the witness interview. The Delaware Department of Justice declined to pursue further prosecution or appeals. As of 2024, no further arrests have been made, and the shooter remains unknown. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the investigation.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 20, 2026