On the evening of January 21, 2023, 24-year-old Jaylan McWilson was shot and killed outside his family home in the 1100 block of South Avenue in Niagara Falls. McWilson had just parked his BMW sedan shortly after 6:30 p.m. and was ambushed while seated in the driver’s seat. He was struck by multiple bullets, managed to exit the car and reach the front porch before collapsing, and died after being taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.

The Niagara Falls Police Department led the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Amherst Police Department. Authorities arrested 19-year-old Dennis D. Parson of Amherst on January 26, 2023, at a motel near the University at Buffalo North Campus. Investigators described the motive as a botched robbery; Parson was indicted on charges including second-degree murder, attempted first-degree robbery, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and he pleaded not guilty.

The family’s loss was noted publicly, and the father, Howard McWilson, said the family forgave the defendant but that no crime should go unpunished. Does anyone in the Niagara Falls area have information about Jaylan’s last movements or the incident that evening?