Investigation open after state drops charges in Milton shooting

Sitting at a small table next to the kitchen, Milton resident Olivia Hernandez looks over at her 16-year-old son as he pretends to watch TV.

Marlon Martinez-Hernandez is listening to the conversation, she says, and he perks up with a slight smile every time she says he may be returning to Cape Henlopen High School in the near future.

Lying in a hospital bed in the living room, hooked up to oxygen and with a nurse sitting close by his side, Marlon is quiet and still. He's been making progress since he suffered multiple gunshot wounds in a November 2014 shooting just outside the apartment complex where he lives with his mom. He can hold up his head and wave his arms a bit, but cannot walk or talk.

“His brain is good, but the problem is with his eyes,” she says. Marlon has had poor vision since he was born and now needs new glasses. “I hope he can come back to Cape Henlopen High School.”

A long list of medications, broken down by the hour, is taped to the wall next to the refrigerator. Two large wheelchairs take over the living room, and Olivia discusses the difficulty of manually wheeling her son around. He's heavy, she says. She's concerned the minivan she uses sits too low when he is inside. She's gone around in circles, calling number after number and agency after agency to find help to fix the van or get a new one.

An honors student before the shooting, Marlon would be entering 11th grade this fall. Because he missed most of the last two years, Olivia hopes he'll start over as a ninth-grader.

Doctors had little hope for Marlon's recovery nearly two years ago, when he was paralyzed from the neck down after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. His older brother, Rogelio “Chico” Martinez-Hernandez, died in the same shooting in the parking lot on Palmer Street outside of Park Royal Apartments Nov. 24, 2014.

Since then, Olivia has focused her energy on caring for Marlon. She is calm and collected, wiping her eyes only briefly as she talks about the state's recent decision to drop all charges against Carlos J. “Macho” Feliciano-Concepcion, the only suspect identified in the shooting.

On Aug. 12, the state withdrew murder and attempted murder charges after determining evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Feliciano-Concepcion committed the crime, a Department of Justice spokesman said.

“Of course this was not a thing I was expecting, but it might be better,” she said. “With no evidence, we would have lost in the trial. I can cry, I can scream, I can breathe. Nothing is going to change. I don't have Chico back, and that's not going to change.”

Court hearings revealed that police video and audio evidence from the night of the crime was not preserved, and at least two state police officers failed to write their reports until more than a year after the shooting. Based on that, Feliciano-Concepcion's attorney aimed to suppress Milton Police Department Lt. Derrick Harvey's account that Marlon identified the shooter that night as Feliciano-Concepcion, known by friends as “Macho.” The state opted to drop all charges before a Superior Court judge delivered a ruling on the suppression request.

The Cape Gazette contacted Feliciano-Concepcion through social media, where he maintained his innocence.

“All I say is the police need to do their job and catch who did it,” stated a message from his account. “He was like my brother! R.I.P. Chico!”

Olivia says she suspects a family member took over Feliciano-Concepcion's Facebook page.

“The police said they're going to keep trying to find the gun,” she says. “The state made big mistakes, and everybody knows it.”

For now, there's not much she can do. She says she plans to seek additional legal counsel, and she asks neighbors that if they see Feliciano-Concepcion in the area, to contact police immediately.

“I'm just going to put all my energy in Marlon,” she says. “Chico's not here. He's not coming back.”