Mother of slain son, Orbby Holder, pleading for case not to go cold

BRIDGEVILLE, Del. – A mother in Bridgeville is making a public plea for answers as the one-year anniversary of her son’s killing is approaching.

Orbby Holder’s mother is still waiting for justice and believes others in the community know who the suspect is. “It’s been almost a year since he’s been gone and I’m just wondering what is the next step for Delaware State Police to apprehend the killer of my son,” Tikeysha Holder asks.

Tikeysha Holder is frustrated following the loss of her son, Orbby Holder. She can’t heal knowing the killer is still out there. “I can’t get that truth, I can’t get genuine happiness back, like I will never be Tykesha that I was when he was here, he took that from me. I can’t be that person anymore, it’s different, it’s so different,” Holder cried out.

Orbby was killed on Mother’s day of 2023. “He was everything, he was a go-getter. He was strong, he was a fighter, he was a brother, he was a good friend to a lot of people,” Holder said.

When Tikeysha got the call that her son had been shot, she gassed up her car to make the drive to Bridgeville from North Carolina. But, it was too late. Unfortunately, her son passed away before she could make it home, so she made it her duty to find answers. She door knocked in her community that already had answers, yet no one was willing to come forward. “Plenty of the people in the community was ready to tell me it was such and such but nobody was ready to go to the police. Don’t tell me about him, tell the police what you saw,” said Holder.

Tikeysha believes people in the community know more about her son’s murder. She also feels the state needs to do more to improve resources to better address crime. “I feel as though Delaware state should have some type of surveillance, should have some type of videos. I can ride from state to state and ride past the meters where you have to pay a toll they got my whole car on blast you can see my whole tag, so why don’t you all have these types of cameras in these low urban communities in this poverty? Where is that protection,” Holder asks.

In this case, Delaware State Police say they don’t yet have the right materials to put someone behind bars. But, do say that the difference between a case going cold or justice being served could be video surveillance. “Anyone’s got any surveillance, ring cameras, anything on their house may have captured what happened the day of the homicide, that would be very helpful to the investigators,” said Corporal Lewis Briggs.

Tikeysha is urging others to be the voice. Asking, if a community doesn’t have accountability then what does it have? “We need to make change in our communities because some people in the community aren’t saying anything some of us are still having to go to sleep knowing that the killer may never be apprehended,” said Tikeysha Holder.

Tikeysha tells me she wants the public to come forward. She says to think about the situation as if you were in her shoes. There is a $5,000 reward for information surrounding the death of Orbby Holder. You can submit tips to Delaware Crime Stoppers.

Tikeysha is working with other mourning mothers and legislators on new legislation to address this issue.