Why was Baby Rozelle Left Crying?

Delaware State Police Department Detective Avery Pell was a formidable presence. He’s 6’9” 235 pounds and insisted he’d never played basketball for any organized team, including childhood leagues. His dark eyes belied a spirited guy who shouldn’t have flecks of gray in his Caesar haircut, but did.

“It was insane,” he told the Daily Delaware about the 2017 Christmas Eve murder-suicide in Wilmington, Delaware.

“We showed up and we heard this faint wailing. As we got closer, and knocked down the door, we discovered three adult males and two adult females had been killed. The murder weapon, a sawed off shotgun lay frozen just under the chin of the assailant, Dalando Grice. A baby, Rozelle Grice, was the only survivor in the scene.”

Pell and his agents recovered the infant, and took him to the Delahealth Hospital via helicopter where he received a battery of tests.

“Fortunately,” Pell said, “little Rozelle was untouched, physically anyway. As for whether he was traumatized by what happened, who can say? He’s probably too young, but when he grows up, he’ll likely want to know what happened, and that’ll be rough. One day….”

He didn’t finish the phrase, but the rest consisted of “…at a time.” The bronze SIG Sauer P227 plaque on his office wall, commemorating his time as a state trooper, included the famous complete line.

“It was sad. The rest of the family was called in to make arrangements with the funeral director. We just tried to keep them together. We didn’t have to do much. They were all close and composed. I actually had some troopers in the cold giving blankets to the family members. That baby’s situation really got to me.”

“When the forensics team showed up they found more ammunition in the house and a few pipe bombs. Our team’s working theory was that Delando Grice planned to firebomb the house, kill his wife Brenna, brother in-law Yardley Jennings, brother Jacob and his wife Allison, in a holiday horror film come true. Though he didn’t get the explosion he expected, Grice did manage to kill his adult relatives, and himself, with ease. The daughters and sons of Yardley and Jacob and Allison had reached the age where they could understand what happened. That devastated me.”

He couldn’t show it, though. The consummate professional, Pell just sucked it up and continued relating the story of what happened that dark day before Christmas in 2017.

“I tried to keep my composure, and I succeeded at that. As the top cop in this case, I had to be the rock for some of the other guys. I’ve got daughters. My first daughter is a mom with two kids. My second in line is in junior high school. I mean, this thing rocked our worlds. It rocked the state.”

The Delaware press covered the story until about mid March, then, when the weather got warmer, no one covered the story much.

“I was relieved,” said Pell. “I didn’t want this thing dragged out for the family’s sake. I’m sure they were tired of hearing about it day in, day out on repeat.”

Pell looked out his window and sighed. “I’ve seen some scenes, but the baby Rozelle case continues to rank as one of the worst. I’ve seen some gory stuff in my day. I know the pain and anguish of families who had been wiped out entirely. I prepared myself for all of this. It’s something that you have to do physically as a detective. I think it’s more mental, really. That’s the thing though; in this line of work you’ve got to be ready for anything.”