VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Roel Delua is charged with malicious wounding and leaving the scene of an injury accident, but those charges are only half the story of what happened in his neighborhood Monday evening.
Delua, 33, lived in the 1700 block of Rose Petal Drive with John Kilgore, 32. Police got two calls relating to that neighborhood Monday about 8 p.m., one for a domestic disturbance and the other a hit-and-run involving a woman struck by a car.
Police say Delua was fleeing his burning home when he struck the woman and fled the area. He appeared in court Thursday afternoon on the traffic charges. She is expected to recover.
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According to police, when they entered the burning home to investigate, they found a man’s body that was later identified as Kilgore. The medical examiner’s office has yet to release Kilgore’s cause of death. Police say they are treating it as a homicide case.
Nearly two years ago, a house caught fire on Elder Avenue in Chesapeake. Both Delua and Kilgore lived at that home, too.
In court Thursday, a translator was provided for Delua to give him the judge’s directions in Spanish. However when WAVY covered the earlier March 2017 house fire, we interviewed Delua and he spoke fluent English. We’ve notified the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and were told they would look into it.
Delua is in jail without bond on the traffic charges and has a bond hearing Tuesday morning. So far he faces no charges in the death of Kilgore.