$500,000 bail set for gun in shooting
Man is not charged with shooting boy, 10, but illegally having a gun that did, police say
$500,000 bail set for gun in shooting Man is not charged with shooting boy, 10, but illegally having a gun that did, police say Check out this story on delawareonline.com: http://delonline.us/1LmZJRE
robin brown, The News Journal Published 12:19 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2015 | Updated 8:34 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2015
Jaleel Goldsborough, 24, is being held for lack of $500,000 cash bail on a single charge of firearm possession by a prohibited person, causing injury or death to another person, in the Tuesday shooting of a 10-year-old boy in Wilmington.(Photo: Brown, Robin (Wilmington))
Wilmington – The only person charged in a Tuesday shooting that critically injured a 10-year-old boy was in jail Thursday after failing to post $500,000 cash bail.
Court records show Jaleel B. Goldsborough, 24, charged with firearm possession by a prohibited person, resulting in injury or death, was committed to Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington after arraignment Wednesday, due to lack of bail.
Goldsborough has not been charged specifically with the shooting, city police spokesman Master Sgt. Shane Sowden said. "He has been charged with the firearm possession," he said.
Police have yet to identify the suspected shooter publicly or disclose any details of how investigators believe the shooting occurred, Sowden said.
Neighbors in the 700 block of Townsend Place of the Wilmington Housing Authority's Southbridge projects off South Heald Street – where police say the boy was shot in the head about 1:50 a.m. Tuesday inside his home – said Thursday that Goldsborough is the boyfriend of the child's mother.
The boy, identified by family and friends as Mekhi Mitchell, remained in critical but stable condition Thursday at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, Sowden said.
City spokeswoman Alexandra Coppadge had said several other suspects were identified in the shooting, but later backtracked, saying "several" might be an overstatement and that investigators have identified them in the case, but not necessarily in the shooting.
Police also have declined to say where Goldsborough lives, except to say New Castle County. Court records show his address as the first block of Roselawn Ave., a location just west of Elsmere.
A group of officers removed another, unidentified man from a row house three three doors down from the boy's home late Tuesday and took him into custody. But Sowden said police are not releasing any information about him, even whether he was charged, was released or remains in police custody.
After another daylong presence Wednesday of investigators – and people from residents to children on bicycles watching them – the neighborhood was quiet Thursday and starting to return to normal, said Rita Foster, who owns the Caring Hands Child Care Center, a few doors from the boy's home.
"They say he's doing better," she said. "We're all praying for him and his family."
"He's a fighter," a family friend said Thursday, adding that Mekhi is a consistent honors student who also excels at sports, especially football and basketball. "He's the kind of child that people meet and know will do something with his life, contribute, be a leader."
Friends and neighbors say Mekhi is about to become a fifth-grader at the nearby Elbert-Palmer Elementary School in the Christina School District, where the new school year starts Aug. 31.
District officials have not yet responded to a News Journal inquiry about whether parents will be notified about the shooting that occurred only blocks from the school or if counselors will be available if children need such help.
Goldsboro's arrest warrant and a search warrant related to the shooting remain sealed at the request of the Wilmington Police Department, with support of the state Department of Justice.
Goldsborough is prohibited from having guns after a prior felony conviction, Sowden confirmed.
Goldsborough pleaded guilty in 2013 to a charge of carrying a concealed deadly weapon, court records show. He was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended for a year's probation, with a marijuana possession charge dropped from the same arrest.
He also pleaded guilty in 2011 to a 2010 charge of driving while suspended or revoked, being sentenced to 30 days and a $500 fine. In 2008, he had charges of resisting arrest, felony drug possession with intent to deliver, marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession – all dropped for drug diversion program participation, court records show.
Police have acknowledged since the initial stages of investigation that they have received conflicting information about the circumstances of the shooting.
They have refused since Tuesday even to confirm whether they have ruled out an accidental shooting.
"We're still looking for tips," Sowden said.
Tips may be called to the Wilmington Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division at (302) 576-3620 or Wilmington Police Confidential Tip Line at (302) 576-3990 and sent by texts starting with TIP WILMINGTON followed by messages to 888777.
Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.
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