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Crime, Law and Justice
Rachel Treisman, NPR

After months on the run, a murder suspect falls through the ceiling and into custody

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Side-by-side photos showing a hole in the ceiling above a kitchen.
Authorities were searching a Memphis home for murder suspect Deario Wilkerson when he crashed through the ceiling from the attic space in which he'd been hiding.
U.S. Marshals Service

Authorities got a lucky break when the murder suspect they’d been pursuing for months fell, so to speak, into their laps — through the ceiling of the building where he’d been hiding.

The U.S. Marshals Service said agents captured 20-year-old Deario Wilkerson on Monday, months after a warrant for his arrest — on charges of first-degree murder and reckless endangerment — was issued in connection with a fatal shooting in Memphis, Tenn.

The task force investigating his whereabouts tracked him to a residence in Memphis, the agency said in a release. Law enforcement agents didn’t have to look long once they were inside.

“Wilkerson attempted to hide in the attic as the USMS searched the residence; however, he fell through the ceiling,” it said.

Officials said Wilkerson was not injured in the fall and was taken into custody without further incident.

His dramatic arrest caps off a saga that started in early April, with a shooting that left a man dead and a woman injured. Wilkerson was one of three people ultimately arrested in connection with the incident, according to the Shelby County District Attorney’s office.

Memphis police were responding to a disturbance call near an apartment complex on April 2 when they heard multiple gunshots, the DA’s office said in May.

“The victim, Troy Cunningham, was discovered on the sidewalk near Peres and Merton Street, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his head,” it added.

Gunfire also struck a passing vehicle with two female passengers, one of whom was shot in the shoulder. She was taken to the hospital in noncritical condition, WREG reported at the time.

The outlet cited surveillance video that allegedly shows Wilkerson lunging at Cunningham, setting the fight in motion.

It says the two other suspects shot at the victim as he ran away, and that Wilkerson can then be seen on camera “running to the victim and picking something up off the ground next to him before leaving the scene.”

The other suspects were taken into custody in May, the same month the warrant was issued for Wilkerson's arrest. It just took a little longer to carry it out.

NPR has reached out to the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County District Attorney’s office for comment.

Copyright 2024, NPR