Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after three people, including two children, were found dead inside a vehicle near Highway 85 and East 340 Road early Saturday.

The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle around 6 a.m. Upon arrival, deputies discovered the bodies of Alisia Peña, 38, of Tulsa, and her two children, both under the age of 10.

Preliminary findings indicate that Peña shot the children before taking her own life. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is working to determine the official cause and manner of death.

“At this time we are still trying to determine why she was in the area, there’s no none known family or contacts of hers that are in the area.,” said Cpt. Jackie Smithson, with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies say they plan to interview family members next week to determine why this happened.

No additional details are being released at this time.

Turner said the need has been critical since the start of the pandemic, even with the government aid in the first few years.

“While all of those interventions that were in place, we actually saw a decrease in the number of people coming out to the food bank,” she said. “When those ended, inflation also hit. So since then, it’s just been a huge demand in our community.”

The Wilmington food pantry Gracia visited this week has been sponsored over the past six years by state Rep. Kim Williams, D-Stanton, and state Sens. Jack Walsh, D-Pike Creek, and Spiros Mantzavinos, D-Elsmere.

“It’s just a resource we want to provide to those who may need a little more extra help during the holiday season,” Williams said. “We’re happy to do this.”

Turner said while it’s the holiday season, it’s also important to remember many Delawareans are food insecure year-round. A 2022 study from Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and pantries, shows more than 120,100 Delawareans are facing hunger, 37,680 of them are children. That means 1 in 8 people and 1 in 6 children in the First State are food insecure.

“Come January, our donations are going to drop significantly,” Turner said. “So we encourage people to keep our neighbors in mind during those cold winter months when oftentimes low-income people are choosing between heating their home or buying groceries.”

Newark remains on track to be a competitive city for recreational marijuana in Delaware.

Two marijuana-related ordinances were approved at the Nov. 25 City Council meeting. The Council updated the city code regarding adult recreational use to match state law, as well as approved a special use permit for the eventual operation of a recreational dispensary in the city.

A special use permit allowing Fresh Delaware to operate in the city as a recreational marijuana business with cultivation, manufacturing and retail was approved with a unanimous vote.

“I think that Newark City Council can take a lot of pride in the fact that there are other towns and counties that are literally lost in the wilderness on this because they didn’t get things done in time,” Mayor Jerry Clifton said.

Fresh Delaware moves to open retail dispensary

Fresh Delaware and the area surrounding it was re-zoned to allow recreational marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and retail in August, but it required a special use permit from the city. Now, Fresh Delaware only has the state’s conversion process left to complete before it can shift from medical-only sales.

City council members uniformly had positive reviews for the representative of Fresh Delaware present at the meeting.

“You were a good neighbor,” Councilmember Corinth Ford said.

Fresh Delaware cultivates and manufactures its own product, and has an additional location in Seaford. It is one of the 13 medical dispensaries in the state. There is another area in Newark zoned to allow recreational marijuana business toward the Maryland border.

BACKGROUND: Newark open to marijuana sales, as other cities ban stores.

Fresh Delaware is on track to open for recreational sales in the spring, according to the state Office of the Marijuana Commissioner. Spring is the statewide goal for retail openings, though the store still has a ways to go on its conversion track.

Where other Delaware cities stand

As Newark approves a recreational business, other cities in the county are behind.

Wilmington has been back-and-forth on bans, buffers and zones while New Castle County government is discussing possible buffers for retail locations in December. Other cities in Delaware, including Rehoboth, Lewes and Bethany, banned retail altogether.

Wilmington recently asked the state to change the law to get a cut of any sales tax, but Mayor Jerry Clifton said he wants to take a wait-and-see approach on how the state government responds to its request.

More: Why Wilmington is asking for a portion of marijuana sales revenue from the state

Newark mirrors state code in recreational usage

The council updated the city code around recreational usage, updating its code to match the state. The city code now reads that people 21 and older can privately use a personal quantity of 12 grams or less of concentrated cannabis, or cannabis products containing 750 milligrams or less of delta-9 THC.

Public use is still a criminal misdemeanor, however, and using while under 21 years old is a civil violation. Smoking marijuana in public also violates state law. City solicitor Paul Bilodeau said private consumption can include someone’s backyard.

Some council members had ideas about how to regulate potential parties where the smell could spread from multiple smokers, but no official action was taken on those ideas.

The ordinance was approved unanimously by City Council.

“We are in a strange world where it is legal to consume marijuana in private, but it is illegal to buy it,” Bilodeau said.