The Delaware Supreme Court reversed the murder conviction of Yony Morales-Garcia in connection with a deadly restaurant shooting that left two people dead in Sussex County. The court's unanimous decision, issued Feb. 3, 2026, remands the case back to the Superior Court, suggesting significant legal errors occurred during the original trial proceedings.
The case stems from a Jan. 22, 2022 incident at a crowded restaurant in Sussex County when two masked men dressed in dark clothing entered the establishment. According to court documents, one of the men ripped jewelry from around a restaurant patron's neck while the other shot and killed two people. The State's theory was that Morales-Garcia pulled the trigger to protect his brother, Emner Morales-Garcia, who confessed to stealing the jewelry.
The Morales-Garcia brothers were originally scheduled to be tried separately. Emner accepted a plea offer before trial, pleading guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy. Yony proceeded to trial, but the first jury deadlocked on the charges. In his second trial, the jury convicted him of 17 counts, including two counts of first-degree murder.
Morales-Garcia appealed his conviction to the Delaware Supreme Court, raising two primary claims of error. The appeal centered on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct during the trial proceedings. According to the court filing, Morales-Garcia's first claim involved the State's opening statement, where prosecutors revealed that Emner had "admitted to this crime already" and pleaded guilty to the robbery charges.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on Nov. 5, 2025, with the full court participating in the decision. Chief Justice Collins Seitz presided over the five-member panel that included Justices Karen Valihura, Gary Traynor, Tamika Montgomery-Reeves, and Justice Griffiths, who authored the opinion.
Kimberly Price of Collins Price Warner Woloshin represented Morales-Garcia during the appeal proceedings. The Delaware Department of Justice was represented by Deputy Attorneys General Julie Donoghue and Kenneth Nachbar, who argued the case for the State.
The court's decision to reverse and remand indicates that the justices found merit in Morales-Garcia's claims of error during his trial. While the full text of the opinion was not immediately available, the unanimous nature of the decision suggests the court identified clear legal errors that warranted overturning the conviction.
The case highlights the complexities of prosecuting co-defendants in violent crimes, particularly when one defendant pleads guilty before the other's trial. The State's disclosure of Emner's guilty plea during opening statements appears to have been a central issue in the appeal, as such information can prejudice a jury against a co-defendant.
Prosecutorial misconduct claims typically involve allegations that prosecutors violated a defendant's constitutional rights through improper statements, evidence presentation, or other trial conduct. When appellate courts find such misconduct occurred and affected the trial's outcome, they often reverse convictions and order new trials.
The remand to the Superior Court means the case will return to the trial level for further proceedings. Depending on the specific errors identified by the Supreme Court, the State may choose to retry Morales-Garcia or potentially negotiate a plea agreement. The Superior Court will need to address any procedural requirements outlined in the Supreme Court's opinion.
The original charges against Morales-Garcia included two counts of first-degree murder in addition to 15 other counts related to the restaurant incident. First-degree murder in Delaware carries a potential sentence of life in prison without parole or the death penalty, making the stakes in any retrial extremely high.
The restaurant shooting case garnered significant attention in Sussex County due to its violent nature and the fact that it occurred in a crowded public establishment. The incident involved what prosecutors characterized as an armed robbery that escalated to deadly violence when jewelry was stolen from a patron.
This decision represents another example of Delaware's Supreme Court closely scrutinizing trial proceedings in capital cases. The court's willingness to reverse convictions when procedural errors occur demonstrates its commitment to ensuring defendants receive fair trials, even in cases involving serious violent crimes.
The case will now return to the Superior Court, where prosecutors must decide whether to retry Morales-Garcia or pursue other options. Any retrial would need to address the issues identified by the Supreme Court to avoid similar appellate challenges. The decision also serves as guidance for prosecutors in future cases involving co-defendants and the presentation of plea agreements to juries.