Detectives have made an arrest in connection with the murder of a lady who was shot dead while jogging on a well-traveled Nashville trail less than twenty-four hours ago.
Paul Park was arrested for Alyssa Lokits’ murder, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
“Less than 24 hours after the fatal shooting of Alyssa Lokits, 34, on the Mill Creek Greenway, incredible investigative work from Homicide & Specialized Investigations detectives led to the arrest just now of Paul Park, 29, of Brentwood,” police stated on X.
According to a prior statement from the police, Lokits was discovered shot on the Mill Creek Greenway off Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
According to the police, Lokits passed away after being brought to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
It was discovered by investigators that Lokits was strolling along the greenway path when Park emerged from between two parked automobiles and started to follow her at a “brisk pace.”
According to other witnesses, they heard a woman yelling, “Help! “He’s trying to rape me,” he said, and then there was shooting. Police were also informed by witnesses that, prior to gunfire, they saw a man—possibly Asian—on top of Lokits.
According to the police, Lotkits and Park then moved out of the park’s surveillance camera’s field of vision. On camera, though, Park was shown getting back to his gray sedan with “scratches on his arms and blood on his clothing.”
Park then drove away from the parking lot toward Old Hickory Boulevard in a dark 4-door vehicle.
A significant development in the case occurred later that evening when a local witness gave police additional dashcam footage from his automobile stopped near the Greenway trailhead.
Another witness was able to provide part of Park’s license plate information, and police claimed the dashcam captured clear photographs of Park and his vehicle.
Another significant development in the investigation, according to the police, occurred when MNPD Homicide Detective Shannon Forsyth identified the suspect as the identical twin brother of a suicide case she had worked on in December 2021 after looking at the suspect’s photo from the witness’ dashcam.
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After the homicide arrest warrant was issued, detectives then installed surveillance at Park’s Brentwood residence, followed him after he left, and stopped him in Davidson County.
According to authorities, Park is currently being interviewed at police headquarters and will be jailed on the homicide warrant later Tuesday night.
Lokits reportedly received his degree from Vanderbilt University in 2017. She was a neuroscience graduate student who worked at the Hamm Lab.
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