Stuart Police Chief Joseph Tumminelli addresses Devone Delancy death
I have pondered making and posting this statement for about 24 hours now, as I usually never comment about incidents that happen, but this one I feel needs to be addressed.
The Stuart Police Department received some criticism for a delayed posting or alerting the media of a homicide that we had this past week. Well, I do not apologize, as these incidents evolve very quickly and releasing information in this case could have been detrimental to the rapid and evolving investigation. If I felt the safety of the public was in danger a post would have been released.
Second, the many untrue posts, comments, and phone calls about the Stuart Police Department and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office letting the victim lay in the street for 30-45 minutes to die are utterly ridiculous, and certainly absurd. To the individuals who actually decided to post this rhetoric, I really do not want to take the time to explain it to you, you do not deserve the facts, but for those whom showed support, I will explain the timeline of this tragic incident. Please note I have reviewed body worn camera video of all the officers on scene which totals about 5-6 hours of viewing the incident. Each officer is assigned a body worn camera, I watched the officers cameras who were on this scene.
Here are the facts.
The Stuart Police Department received the shooting call at 8:34pm on Wednesday July 13, 2022 in the 600 block of 10th Street.
At 8:35pm the first officer arrived on scene.
Between 8:36pm and 8:41pm the officers applied a tourniquet to stop bleeding from an extremity. They packed abdominal wounds, all while being frantically yelled and screamed at by bystanders. Family members were present and were asked to keep the victim still so the wounds could be packed and the bleeding could be controlled.
At approximately 8:45 Fire Rescue arrived and removed the victim from the scene and awaited a helicopter to land in Guy Davis Field so the victim could be flown to a trauma center. This is protocol in serious injury case’s especially, gunshot wounds.
Detectives were called to the scene, and as of today (Saturday) they are still hunting for this murderer. My detectives are working long hours and continue to investigate many leads to bring justice for this young man.
I am very proud of the men and women that work for the Stuart Police Department, Stuart Police Department Communications, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Martin County Sheriff’s Office Communications, and Stuart Fire Rescue on how they responded to this call.
If you have any information related to this homicide please contact Detective Sergeant Dave Duran at (772)287-1122.
To the family of Devone Delancy, I give my deepest condolences. My department and I will continue to use all of our resources to bring justice for Devone.
-Chief Joseph Tumminelli
