DOVER, Del. — Brandon Jones and Chelsea Porter had been on the run from Delaware police for a week when they heard a knock on the motel room door in Elkton, Maryland, where they were holed up.
It was mid-morning Oct. 25, and Maryland State Police had arrived to serve Brandon with a Delaware warrant for his arrest on drugs, weapons and terroristic threatening charges. Brandon pulled back the curtain to see who had knocked, but before he snatched it closed officers saw him reach for a weapon.
The troopers backed off. But within seconds a phalanx of officers had long rifles trained on Brandon’s and Chelsea’s room, which was fronted by an outside walkway that spans the length of the building.
As officers called for the couple to peacefully surrender, 25-year-old Brandon scratched out a letter on a sheet of notebook paper to family members, lamenting his decisions in life and that he never got a chance to meet his potential. Then he stuffed a BB gun into his waistband and went out onto the walkway, where officers had a clear shot.
Officers screamed at him to drop the gun. Instead, Brandon pulled it from his waistband and pointed it at police. A hail of gunfire erupted from the weapons of at least 10 officers, police said. Brandon turned to run as he was pelted by hot lead. He dropped after taking a few steps.
Chelsea, Brandon’s high school sweetheart who had been with him for 10 years, watched his death from inside the room. Moments later, the 25-year-old emerged from the room with her BB gun already pointed at the officers. She, too, was met with a wall of bullets and fell just feet away from Brandon’s body.
Family and friends were dumbfounded. It appeared to be a classic case of “suicide by cop” at the New Eastern Inn. But those who knew Brandon and Chelsea say there is a much deeper story, one imbued with hard luck and heroin addiction.
In interviews with The News Journal, they explained how the couple fell in love at age 15 and how Chelsea stuck with Brandon through numerous drug relapses, stints in jail and anger management issues. Every time Brandon pushed her away for her own sake, she came back.
