Fourth Defendant Sentenced to More than a Decade in Prison in Connection with Gang-Related Kidnapping and Murder

Wilmington, Delaware – Yesterday, a fourth defendant was sentenced in connection with a kidnapping and murder committed by members of the Shotgun Crips gang, announced Benjamin L. Wallace, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.  Rodney Chambers, 34, who served as a lookout at both the site of the kidnapping in Wilmington, Delaware, and the site of the murder in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.  Chief District Judge Colm F. Connolly pronounced the sentence.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the Shotgun Crips targeted the victim, a 35-year-old Wilmington resident, after he and gang member Kimon Burton-Roberson became embroiled in a dispute.  Shortly after midnight on July 21, 2021, members of the gang—including Burton-Roberson, Jamil Salahuddin, and Josiah Rivera—invaded the victim’s home, while Chambers stayed outside to monitor for police.  The men inside the home beat the victim with a tire iron and a pry bar, bound his hands behind his back with zip ties, and forced him into Burton-Roberson’s Jeep, which was being driven by Stephanie Bultes-Ramirez.  The gang then drove the victim to Philadelphia, continuing to beat him on the drive. In Philadelphia, they picked up gang higher-up Dwayne Alexander, who directed the gang to an industrial park in Yeadon.  There, Burton-Roberson executed the still-bound victim by shooting him in the head with an assault rifle.  Chambers also monitored for police during the murder at the industrial park.  After the murder, the gang tried to cover its tracks by, among other things, scrubbing the Jeep for forensic evidence and terminating service on the cell-phone numbers they had been using that night.   

Three other defendants were sentenced earlier this month—Kimon Burton-Roberson to life in prison, Jamil Salahuddin to 17.5 years in prison, and Stephanie Bultes-Ramirez to 10 years in prison.  Dwayne Alexander is awaiting sentencing in federal court.  Josiah Rivera is awaiting sentencing in the Superior Court for the State of Delaware.  Rivera was not charged federally because he was a minor at the time of the crime.   

“Rodney Chambers had a hand in an atrocious crime that took a beloved son, brother, and uncle from his family,” said U.S. Attorney Wallace. “We thank our law enforcement partners for the tireless work that resulted in a fourth just sentence of at least a decade in this case.  We will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners to stamp out gang violence here in Delaware.” 

“His sentencing is the final step towards holding Rodney Chambers accountable for the life he took,” said FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul. “This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to working with our partners to bring to justice those who use violence to harm and intimidate our community.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Delaware Violent Crime and Safe Streets Task Force, the Wilmington Police Department, the Yeadon Borough Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and Delaware Probation and Parole.  U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Morgan (now with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania) handled the third superseding indictment, the trial, and the sentencings of all defendants.  Others involved in the investigation and prosecution include Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin P. Pierce, Ruth Mandelbaum (now with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania), and Maureen McCartney (also now with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania), as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli H. Klein.

A copy of this press release can be located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.  Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the District Court for the District of Delaware or on PACER by searching for Case No. 22-CR-17-CFC.