Man Faces Murder Charge in Brutal Beating Death of Police Officer
A 30-year-old Maryland man is facing a murder charge in the beating death of a 54-year-old Delaware police officer.
Delaware Gov. John Carney tweeted his sadness over the passing of Delmar police Cpl. Keith Heacook, who was declared clinically dead on Wednesday — three days after being savagely beaten while responding to a 911 call.
“This is heartbreaking news,” Carney tweeted. “The Delmar community and the entire State of Delaware lost a public servant today. Tracey and I are praying for Cpl. Heacook, his family, and all of his fellow law enforcement officers.”
This is heartbreaking news. The Delmar community and the entire State of Delaware lost a public servant today. Tracey and I are praying for Cpl. Heacook, his family, and all of his fellow law enforcement officers. https://t.co/UikY37DpXg
— Governor John Carney (@JohnCarneyDE) April 28, 2021
In a statement Wednesday, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings vowed to rigorously prosecute the suspect, Randon D. Wilkerson of Salisbury, Maryland, in connection with Heacook’s death, as well as the brutal assaults on two senior citizens.
“The man who stole him from his family and from his community has been arrested, and mark my words: he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Jennings said.
“It is with nothing but sadness that I commit, now that Cpl. Heacook is no longer with us, that his killer’s charges will be upgraded to include murder. He will be held accountable for his heinous crimes against Cpl. Heacook, against the elderly couple he viciously assaulted, and against Delmar and our state.”
Heacook, a 22-year veteran of the police force, leaves behind a wife and 11-year-old son, the Salisbury Daily Times reported.
The tragic events unfolded Sunday when Heacook responded to a call about a fight at a residence in Delmar’s Yorkshire Estates Community.
When the officer arrived, he was assaulted by Wilkerson, police said.
According to witness testimony, the suspect repeatedly kicked Heacook in the head as he was lying unconscious on the floor inside the home.
The officer’s battered body was discovered by another team that had been dispatched in response to a second 911 call, this time from an elderly couple across the street.
According to the Delaware State Police, Wilkerson had knocked on the door of Steve and Judy Franklin, ages 73 and 76, respectively, after fleeing the site of the first 911 call.
“The male victim was then assaulted as Wilkerson entered the house and then struck numerous times with a glass object,” the statement read.
“Wilkerson then repeatedly assaulted a 76-year-old female with the same object before fleeing the house. Both of those victims sustained significant injury and were transported by ambulance to area hospitals.”
This grisly incident underscores once again just how dangerous it is to be a police officer — and the grim risks to public safety if they’re defunded.
NYC: A uniformed cop processing the scene of a robbery in Queens yesterday was brazenly hit in the face with a sharp stick in a random attack. pic.twitter.com/43P3wvklp9
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 27, 2021
There has been a nonstop siege on cops since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
The incident has been used to demonize all police officers as racist brutes who are hunting down black people for no reason.
The primary perpetrator of this full-frontal assault on law enforcement is the race-hustling Black Lives Matter movement, which has stoked demonstrations and riots across the nation.
The group’s anti-police animus has been enabled by the Democratic Party and amplified by its media lapdogs.
Sadly, the victims of this war on police (aside from Heacook and other officers) are the American people, who are forced to tolerate unprecedented crime surges across the nation amid police pullbacks.
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