Less than 24 hours after the apparent stranger murder of Nashvillian Alyssa Lokits, 34, on the Mill Creek Greenway, her accused killer is in custody.
Work throughout last night and today by Homicide and Specialized Investigations Division detectives led to the identification of suspect Paul S. Park, 29, of Jupiter Forest Drive in Brentwood. An arrest warrant charging Park with criminal homicide was issued shortly after 3 p.m. Detectives took him into custody minutes later as he was driving on Autumn Crossing Way in Davidson County.
The investigation shows that Lokits was walking in the area of the greenway path when a man, subsequently identified as Park, stepped out from between two parked vehicles and began following her at a brisk pace. Lokits and Park walked out of the camera’s view. Park was seen returning to his gray BMW sedan a short time later with scratches on his arms and blood on his clothing. Before this, witnesses heard a woman screaming, “Help! He’s trying to rape me,” and then gunfire. Park was seen in the overgrown area where the victim was found.
A major break in the case came Monday night from a local resident who provided police with footage recorded by the dashcam in his vehicle that was parked at the greenway trailhead. The dashcam recorded clear images of Park and part of the BMW. A witness was also able to provide detectives with a partial tag from the BMW.
The second major break came this morning when Homicide Detective Shannon Forsyth reviewed a photo of the suspect taken by the dashcam. Forsyth recognized the suspect as being the identical twin brother from a suicide case that she had worked in December 2021.
Specialized Investigations Division detectives set up surveillance at Park’s Brentwood home, followed him after he left, and stopped him in Davidson County after the homicide arrest warrant was issued.
Park is at police headquarters being interviewed. He will be booked on the homicide warrant later tonight.
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Paul S. Park, 29