Last of six charged in 2014 murders awaits extradition

The last person sought in a double murder in 2014 has been arrested in Philadelphia.

Rhamir Waples, 19, of Philadelphia, was arrested Aug. 4; he awaits extradition following a hearing Philadelphia Aug. 17, said Sgt. Richard Bratz of the Delaware State Police. Waples was charged as a fugitive from justice and he is being held in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.

Waples was the last of six men indicted on first-degree murder, robbery and other charges in connection with the January 2014 murders of Cletis Nelson and William Hopkins, who were shot to death in a Harmons Hill Road home. He is also charged as part of a crime ring involving dozens of Sussex County residents.

In July, Delaware State Police and the Attorney General's Office released details of a four-month investigation involving cocaine and heroin sales in Sussex County, and a robbery and theft operation police say was an offshoot.

Already in custody in connection with the murders are Steven Kellam, 34, of Dover, held without bail in Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington; Damon Bethea, 30, of Pennsauken, N.J., committed to Sussex Correction Institution without bail; Carlton Gibbs, 40, of Millsboro, committed to SCI without bail; Shamir A. Stratton, of Pennsauken, N.J., held without bail in SCI; and Richard Robinson, 20, of Philadelphia, arrested July 3 and held in a Philadelphia prison pending extradition to Delaware.

Police linked Kellam, Robinson and Waples with four other home-invasion robberies in the months after the 2014 double murders:

• A 24-year-old man was pistol whipped and robbed May in Oak Orchard.

• The three men kicked open the door of a home in Millsboro in August but fled when residents blocked the door and called police.

• A 46-year-old man was pistol whipped and a 56-year-old woman was assaulted when men went to their Millsboro home in December.

• Three days later, the men shot and wounded a 37-year-old man at his Millsboro home.

Two women, Rachel Rentoul, 30, of Wilmington and Jacquelyn Heverin, 24, of Millsboro face robbery charges in connection with the Harmons Hill Road murders. Rentoul was arrested July 6 and charged with home invasion, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, first-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy. Heverin turned herself in to police July 10 and she was charged with home invasion, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, first-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy.

Both women are free on $65,000 unsecured bond.

Already sentenced or charged are:

• Angelina Levan, 46, of Harrington, who pleaded guilty July 8 to drug dealing and conspiracy. Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said Levan and James Johnson, 45, also of Harrington supplied large amounts of heroin to Laurel resident Jackson Vanvorst, 34. Johnson faces heroin possession and delivery charges and second-degree conspiracy. Vanvorst ran a heroin distribution network in Sussex County and also a shoplifting ring using drug users to steal items from area stores in exchange for drugs, Fournier said. Levan was sentenced to six months of prison and one year of probation.

• Australia Mackey, 39, of Millsboro – 62 charges including possession and delivery of cocaine and second-degree criminal solicitation.

• Tavon Biles, 32, of Rehoboth Beach – 14 charges of cocaine possession and delivery and second-degree conspiracy.