Sussex County residents face straw-purchase charges

Five Sussex County residents face charges in connection with purchasing firearms for illegal activity, the result of a multi-agency effort to stop straw purchases of firearms.

Attorney General Kathleen Jennings held a press conference Feb. 16 in Georgetown to announce the arrests and called the work done to secure those arrests groundbreaking.

“We have to get at the straw purchases before they get into the hands of people hellbent on killing other human beings,” Jennings said.

A team of investigators from the Delaware State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and area law enforcement communities in Delaware and Maryland used tips from local gun shops and a nationwide database to narrow down the straw purchase suspects.

Of the 64 weapons total bought by the five individuals, Jennings said, 53 weapons remain unaccounted for. One weapon was used in a Dover homicide, and another was used by someone who committed suicide, she said. Other weapons were recovered following crimes committed in New York City.

“These stories tell the real story. When someone purchases a gun knowing they are giving it to an individual prohibited from possessing that gun, they’re giving an instrument of death to another person, and they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” she said.

The five people arrested face a total of 91 felony charges, mostly in connection with false statements, and engaging in a firearms transaction on behalf of another.

Keyon Eley, 24, of Laurel faces the most charges, with 36 counts of engaging in a firearms transaction on behalf of another and 29 counts of false statement. The transaction charges carry a maximum sentence of five years each; false statement penalties can be up to two years.

Jennings said Eley is an admitted member of the Piru 700 Blood gang, and he is currently incarcerated at Sussex Correctional Institution.

Karen Morris, 33, of Georgetown, faces nine transaction counts and five false statement counts. Jennings said she admitted to buying eight firearms for money, and text messages show she also received heroin. She is free on $30,000 unsecured bond.

Shane Willey, 32, of Georgetown, was an accomplice during at least one of the gun purchases, Jennings said. He is free on $10,000 unsecured bond.

Malik Jarvis, 28, of Laurel, purchased 15 firearms, and he faces four counts of false statements. He is out on $4,000 unsecured bond.

Paige Morris, 31, of Ellendale purchased three firearms, one of which was recovered from the scene of a Dover homicide. Jennings said Morris confessed to buying the firearms at the behest of her boyfriend, who now faces a first-degree murder charge. She is out on $8,000 unsecured bond.

Although the cases involve Sussex County residents and Sussex County purchases, Jennings said, straw purchases are statewide and national concerns, and not unique to Sussex County.

“This is going on throughout our state. There is nothing unique about purchasing a firearm in Sussex County, or Kent County, or New Castle County. What this tells us is that straw purchasing is a major means of firearms getting into the hands of violent people,” she said.