Leland man sentenced for shooting former Marine

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Leland man has been sentenced up to 14 years for shooting a former Marine in the parking lot of a Wilmington hotel.

The shooting occurred August 5, 2017, at the Hampton Inn on South 17th Street.

When police arrived, they found the victim, Daniel Trackwell, had been shot in the stomach and leg. He had been sleeping in his truck in the hotel parking lot since he had to return to Jacksonville early that morning.

According to District Attorney Ben David, Jason Eugene Bolton, 41, attempted to rob Trackwell and got into a struggle with him.

Bolton shot Trackwell multiple times before leaving the scene.

In addition to finding shell casings at the scene, investigators found a Houston Texans baseball hat in which investigators collected DNA evidence that was entered into a database of convicted offenders. They were able to match it to Bolton.

Investigators also looked at Bolton’s Facebook page where he could be seen multiple times wearing a Houston Texans baseball hat in the months prior to the shooting.

During testimony in the case, Detective Robert Ferencak testified that he could not find any photos on Bolton’s Facebook page of him wearing the baseball cap after the shooting occurred.

Prior to this conviction, authorities said Bolton had been convicted 28 times of offenses, including eight larcenies and three prior assaults. He also has pending Breaking and Entering and Larceny charges for offenses that occurred on February 27, 2019. He has not been tried for this incident.