Arrest made in Delaware parking lot beating death

An Elkton, Maryland man is facing charges in the beating death of a man in a Newark grocery store parking lot on Friday.

According to Delaware State Police, 27-year-old Aaron Downes was arrested in Elkton on Monday night and will be charged with manslaughter recklessly causing death of another person, once he’s extradited back to Delaware.

Downes, is accused of assaulting 22-year-old Tyler Stanley in the Food Lion parking lot at the Pencader Plaza shopping plaza in Newark just after 6 p.m. Friday.

Stanley, a resident of Chesapeake City, Maryland, and a 57-year-old female passenger were sitting in a parked vehicle in the plaza when Downes and another man confronted Stanley, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

Police said Downes opened the passenger door and began arguing with Stanley over money that was owed for a drug transaction. Stanley was repeatedly punched in the head and upper body.

After the assault, Downes and the other man fled the scene.

The woman accompanying Stanley in the vehicle called 911 and he was transported to Christiana Hospital in critical condition. He died the following day.

Delaware State Police homicide detectives, along with the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police, were able to identify Downes and the other suspect, who has not been charged.