NEWARK, Del. (KYW Newsradio) — A New Castle man has been convicted of murder after he ran over a University of Delaware student in a stolen U-Haul last April.
On April 29, 2025, 23-year-old Gordon Turner fled from the Newark Shopping Center onto East Main Street in a stolen U-Haul truck after police approached him. During his attempted escape, he struck and killed University of Delaware student Marina Vasconcelos and critically injured a graduate student.
Several other people suffered more minor injuries.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings called Turner’s actions reckless and cowardly, but said the conviction was a critical step toward justice for the victims and their families.
Newark’s chief of police called the incident a senseless tragedy that deeply impacted the entire community.
Turner has been convicted of first-degree murder, manslaughter, multiple counts of assault, theft of a motor vehicle and many other charges.
He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of life in prison. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
