Fatal shooting at Lincoln University was carried out by gunmen looking to rob students’ jewelry, DA says

Three Wilmington men, armed with guns, traveled to Lincoln University last fall, intent on robbing students of their jewelry and other valuables during the school’s crowded homecoming celebration, Chester County prosecutors said Tuesday.

In the process, they killed one of their criminal rivals, Ju’Juan Jeffers, and sparked a bout of gunfire that left six other people injured, including one of the suspects.

William Sells, 20; Makaveli Valera, 19; and Karon Rollins, 17, have all been charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy, and related crimes, according to Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe.

On the night of the shooting, gunfire rang out about 9:30 p.m. as a large party was being held outside of the campus’ International Cultural Center building, sending thousands of students into a panic.

“This university is really a fabric of our community and last fall, while students, alumni, faculty, friends, gathered for homecoming celebrations at that university, a group of people from Wilmington decided they were going to crash the party,” he said.

“In the process, not only did they kill people and hurt people, but they destroyed a sense of security at an important part of Chester County,” de Barrena-Sarobe said.

A fourth man, Zecqueous Morgan-Thompson, 21, has been charged with aggravated assault for firing his mother’s handgun Oct. 25 during homecoming festivities at the historically Black university.

Morgan-Thompson had previously been charged with carrying the .380 handgun without a permit, but investigators filed new charges this week after they said they were able to match six shell casings found at the scene to the handgun he was carrying.

Like the three other suspects, he has no affiliation with Lincoln, according to prosecutors, but drove to the school to attend its homecoming.

He has denied firing his gun on Lincoln’s campus.

Seven people were injured in the gunfire, including Jeffers, 20, who prosecutors said was fatally shot in the head by Rollins during a chance encounter as Rollins was targeting students to rob.

Jeffers was also not a student at Lincoln, but attended homecoming at the invitation of a student, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family.

De Barrena-Sarobe said his office worked closely with Wilmington police and federal agents to track down the suspects and link them to the shooting. All three were well-known to police in their home city, as was Jeffers — prosecutors wrote in court filings that they are members of rival street gangs involved in gun violence in Wilmington.

Sells, he noted, was wounded during the shooting and provided false information to investigators almost immediately. It was not clear who fired the shot that struck him.

All three remained in custody Tuesday in Delaware, awaiting extradition to Chester County.

Ultimately, de Barrena-Sarobe said, social media helped put the pieces of the crime together.

Rollins was seen wearing a distinct gray camouflage outfit and carrying a gun in video recorded at the scene. Messages sent through Instagram showed the men gleefully discussing Jeffers’ being shot in the head, and pictures they posted showed them displaying the jewelry they stole from students at the school.

One witness told police that Rollins pistol-whipped him and stole a pendant he was wearing, as well as his sneakers, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. Months later, when he was arrested by Wilmington Police in an unrelated case, Rollins was wearing the stolen jewelry, the affidavit said.

In text messages, Valeria said he was glad the group went to Lincoln, despite the chaos and violence that ensued, calling the trip a “win.”

De Barrena-Sarobe expressed incredulity that the men were willing to kill over necklaces, watches, and pendants worth a few hundred dollars.

“It’s absolutely mind-boggling that a trinket could lead to a mass shooting,” he said.

In the lawsuit filed by Jeffers’ mother, Marchelle Hargroves, her attorneys asserted that administrators at the university “allowed unrestricted public access to its homecoming events and negligently failed to implement or enforce adequate security measures,” creating a culture that permitted violence.

The crowd was so dense that medical personnel were unable to treat Jeffers for several hours because the roads surrounding the school were gridlocked, according to the lawsuit. They had to resort to using all-terrain vehicles to reach Jeffers and other shooting victims, as ambulances were unable to navigate through the crowd.

In the wake of the shooting, and amid mounting pressures from local politicians, Lincoln’s administrators announced new safety plans for large events, including holding no outdoor events after dusk, screening guests, and allowing only one registered guest per student for the Spring Fling event held last month.

Lincoln in a statement said it was not aware of the three individuals charged having any affiliation or connection with Lincoln.

“This remains a deeply painful moment for our Lincoln University community,” President Brenda A. Allen said in the statement. “Our focus continues to be on supporting those impacted, ensuring the safety of our campus, and working in partnership with law enforcement as the legal process moves forward.”

The university has taken steps to improve its safety protocols and emergency response.

Lower Oxford Township supervisors said they have been fielding complaints about Lincoln for years, with residents complaining of persistent issues with parking, litter, and late-night noise disturbances.

Staff writer Susan Snyder contributed to this article.