Falls police charge suspect in the murder of Jaylan McWilson

Rick Pfeiffer L, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
·2 min read

Jan. 30—NIAGARA FALLS — Agents with the U.S. Marshals Violent Felony Fugitive Task Force, along with Falls police detectives and officers with the Town of Amherst Police Department, hit a motel near the University at Buffalo's North Campus on Thursday and arrested a suspect in the slaying of Jaylan McWilson.

The suspect, identified as Dennis D. Parson, 19, of Amherst, was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Niagara County prosecutors said Parson will be arraigned later this morning (Friday) in Falls City Court.

Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division detectives had said that they were working on "a focused set of leads" in their search for McWilson's killer. Detectives said that the Marshals Service and Amherst Police aided in the investigation.

McWilson, 24, had his life cut short in what police have said was a hail of gunfire, around 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 1100 block of South Avenue. He had just turned off his BMW sedan when the sound of gunshots shattered the usually quiet North End neighborhood.

Detectives said McWilson was struck by multiple rounds as he sat in the driver's seat of his vehicle. He was able to get out of the car and make his way to the front porch of his mother's home, before collapsing.

Falls police said multiple calls came into 911 operators in response to the shooting. Police patrol officers said they responded to calls of "shots fired," which then changed to calls of a "man shot."

When officers arrived on the scene, they found McWilson lying on the front porch of his mother's home, gravely wounded. Falls firefighters and EMTs tried to stabilize his wounds and an ambulance rushed to transport him to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo.

After traveling just a few blocks, the ambulance was diverted to the emergency room at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. McWilson was pronounced dead at NFMMC a short time later.

Falls Police Crime Scene Unit detectives cordoned-off the corner of South Avenue and Lockport Street with yellow tape and said later that they had recovered a number of spent shelling cases near the driver's-side door of McWilson's car.

Criminal Investigation Division detectives canvassed the nearby neighborhood in a hunt for additional evidence, including security camera video.

Detectives have not commented on what evidence they actually collected or what eventually led them to Parson.