Background: News footage of the scene in Whitemarsh Island, Ga. where J.T. Schroeder was stabbed on Oct. 23 (WTOC). Inset (left): Delano Middleton (Chatham County Detention Center). Inset (right): J.T. Schroeder (GoFundMe).
A Georgia man has been charged with murder after he allegedly stabbed a teenager at Walmart, purportedly because the victim kicked his shopping cart.
Delano Middleton, 48, was arrested on Thursday, a week after he was involved in a confrontation with 18-year-old J.T. Schroeder at a Walmart in Whitemarsh Island, a community around eight miles east of Savannah. According to police, Middleton was leaving the Walmart store on Oct. 23 when Schroeder reportedly kicked his shopping cart while walking past the older man. The incident led to an altercation, which culminated in Middleton allegedly stabbing Schroeder numerous times.
Schroeder was taken to a hospital and died the following day.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
According to reporting by local ABC affiliate WJCL, police interviewed several witnesses at the scene after the alleged stabbing took place. WJCL reported that Middleton had a long history of arrests for violent crimes and was out on probation at the time of the Oct. 23 incident.
Schroeder’s father told WJCL that his son “was never, ever confrontational unless he was confronted first.” He described what happened when he got the call that his son had been attacked at Walmart, saying, “I got over there as fast as I could and saw blood everywhere. He was literally stabbed over 10 times until he finally bled out and died.”
WJCL reported that Schroeder was an organ donor. He was taken off life support on Oct. 24.
Middleton was charged with murder and is currently in custody at the Chatham County Detention Center.
