AG advocates for permit-to-purchase law amid 91 felony charges for illegal gun purchases

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect additional charges announced by the Delaware Department of Justice that were not included in the first press release.

Five Sussex County residents have been charged with 91 felonies related to the illegal purchase of guns for other people, more commonly known as straw purchases, according to Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.

Jennings used the Wednesday press conference at the Brick Hotel in Georgetown as a chance to also voice her support for a permit-to-purchase law. The legislation would require anyone in Delaware wanting to buy a handgun to first be fingerprinted, undergo training and obtain permission from the state.

A bill that would bring such a law to Delaware, sponsored by Wilmington Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Lockman Wilmington, passed the Senate last year but is stalled in the House.

"We need to be able to have a database that other states around us have to get at these straw purchases in a much more concerted, effective way," said Jennings, who has previously advocated for this legislation.

The charges announced Wednesday involve over 60 illegally purchased firearms, including one recovered at the scene of a Dover homicide and one used in a New Castle County suicide, according to the Attorney General's Office.

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"This is a close-up, tragic look at the damage that straw purchases do and the support that law enforcement needs in order to keep guns out of criminals’ hands," Jennings said. "Dozens more are currently unaccounted for and can still do untold harm."

The charges are as follows:

• Keyon Eley, of Laurel, is charged with 36 counts of engaging in a firearms transaction on behalf of another and 29 counts of making a false statement. Eley, 24, purchased 38 firearms between June 2020 and March 2021, according to the Attorney General's Office. Police in Dover, Baltimore and West Chester County, Pennsylvania, have since recovered firearms that trace back to Eley, the Attorney General's Office said, and he has relinquished two others. The remaining 33 are unaccounted for.

• Karen Morris, of Georgetown, is charged with seven counts of engaging in a firearms transaction on behalf of another and five counts of making a false statement. The 33-year-old woman admitted to purchasing eight guns for someone else between August and October 2021, according to the Attorney General's Office. One of the guns was recovered, while seven are unaccounted for. An additional person was listed as Morris' accomplice but does not appear to have any charges filed against him in relation to the purchases, according to the attorney general's announcement.

• Shane Willey, of Georgetown, is charged with three counts of engaging in a firearms transaction on behalf of another and one count of second-degree conspiracy. The 32-year-old acted as an accomplice to Karen Morris, according to the attorney general's announcement.

• Malik Jarvis, of Laurel, is charged with four counts of making a false statement. The 28-year-old purchased 15 guns in January and February 2021, one of which was used in a Jan. 28, 2021, suicide in New Castle County, according to the Attorney General's Office. Two more guns purchased by Jarvis were recovered in New York, the Attorney General's Office said, while 12 are unaccounted for.

• Paige Morris (no relation to Karen Morris) is charged with two counts of engaging in a firearm transaction on behalf of another, one count of making a false statement and one count of providing a firearm to a person prohibited. The 31-year-old woman purchased three guns on April 3, 2021, one of which was discovered at the scene of a Dover homicide nine days later, according to the Attorney General's Office. Morris relinquished one of the firearms to police, leaving one unaccounted for, the Attorney General's Office said.

Eley is the only defendant currently incarcerated. The rest were released on an unsecured bond, according to the Attorney General's Office.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware AG charges 5 people with 91 felonies related to gun purchases