Amir Landan Wilkerson

In the spring of 2025, two teenagers from Alabama made a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, that ended in tragedy. Amir Landan Wilkerson, a 19-year-old Black male, and his friend, 18-year-old Jamie Valdez-Garcia, traveled together from their hometown of Alabaster. Wilkerson’s family last saw him on the afternoon of Sunday, April 27. The purpose of the friends’ trip to Nashville was not immediately known.

The following day, April 28, a person walking on a trail made a devastating discovery in a wooded area on Army Corps of Engineers property, situated between the Lincoya Bay Apartments and Percy Priest Lake. The bodies of both Wilkerson and Valdez-Garcia were found there. When the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department responded, they determined that both young men had died from multiple gunshot wounds. Wilkerson was identified through a wallet found on his person.

Homicide detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department began an intensive investigation, assisted by federal partners including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations. Within weeks, their work led them to a suspect. On June 6, 2025, authorities in Kenner, Louisiana, apprehended Josue Daniel Hernandez-Moxje, a 23-year-old native of Honduras. He was initially held on outstanding warrants for domestic violence, theft, and bad checks.

Evidence discovered during the investigation forensically linked Hernandez-Moxje to the murders. In consultation with the District Attorney’s Office, police issued warrants charging him with the killings. Hernandez-Moxje was extradited to Nashville on June 24, 2025, and booked on two counts of criminal homicide. He remains in custody at the Metro Jail awaiting trial.

The investigation continued, and in May 2026, detectives announced they were searching for a second suspect. The Metro Nashville Police Department issued arrest warrants for Jose Miguel Guardado-Aguilar, 23, charging him with two counts of criminal homicide for his alleged role in the deaths of Wilkerson and Valdez-Garcia. Authorities stated that Guardado-Aguilar is a suspected member of the MS-13 gang with known ties to Fort Smith, Arkansas, as well as the Alabama cities of Birmingham, Hoover, and Alabaster.

As of May 2026, one suspect is in jail while the search for the second is active. Police consider Jose Miguel Guardado-Aguilar to be armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 or their local law enforcement agency.