A Memphis murder suspect was captured after he fell through the ceiling from the attic where he was hiding, the U.S. Marshals said this week.
Deario Wilkerson, 20, was on the run since May 9 when a warrant for first-degree murder in the shooting death of Troy Cunningham was issued for his arrest. U.S. Marshals from the Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force tracked Wilkerson on Wednesday to a house in the city’s Northeast section.
Agents were searching the house when Wilkerson fell through the ceiling. Wilkerson was not injured from the fall and was taken into custody with no further incident, the USMS said.
Authorties released images of the suspect as well as the broken ceiling.
On April 2, Cunningham was shot in the back of the head, authorties said, and gunfire struck two females who were driving by at the time. One of the women was injured in her shoulder.
Wilkerson was the third suspect to be arrested in the fatal shooting, the Shelby County District Attorney said in a statement, almost five months after Cunningham was killed. Suspect Jarius Hibbler was arrested quickly after the shooting, authorities said, and Tamarius Barron was arrested roughly a month after the shooting.
America’s oldest law enforcement agency, the U.S. Marshals is responsible for tracking down fugitives – often dangerous criminals.
Since 2021, the Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force said they have captured over 2,600 violent fugitives and sexual predators.