Loved ones are mourning a mother of two who was shot and killed during a robbery inside a Delaware store over the weekend.
On Saturday, around 5:30 p.m., police responded to the Metro by T-Mobile store on the 900 block of Kirkwood Highway in Elsmere, New Castle County, for a possible burglary. When they arrived they found the body of an employee, 28-year-old Leslie Ruiz-Basilio. Police said she had been shot to death during a robbery.
"She was my daughter and she was taken from me,” Ruiz-Basilio’s mother, Celia Basilio, said while in tears.
Police said the suspect in the shooting was last seen in Ruiz-Basilio’s black 2008 Cadillac Escalade with the Delaware registration PC194769. Police also said he may have arrived in the area on a blue bicycle.
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The suspect is described as a man standing between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-2 and weighing between 180 and 210 pounds.
Ruiz-Basilio leaves behind a husband and two young children.
“I want the authorities to find him and make him pay for what he did to my daughter,” Celia Basilio said.
Friends of Ruiz-Basilio said she had been the victim of previous robberies at the store. While there are security cameras, Ruiz-Basilio’s friend, Berenice Bernade, doesn’t believe she should’ve been alone inside.
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“It’s sad just to think about it,” Bernade said. “Just to think that she was by herself. Just to think about her fear.”
The suspect is considered armed and dangerous. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact Det. Scot Sowden by emailing scot.sowden@cj.state.de.us or calling (302) 998-1173 ext. 208. You can also call the Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.
A vigil will be held for Ruiz-Basilio Monday night.
