Edil Hernandez was 22 when he was shot dead on Nolensville Pike in south Nashville in the early hours of Christmas morning, December 25, 2021. He had been driving a Chevrolet Camaro after leaving the San Jose Fiesta Restaurant and Club when a red Toyota Tacoma and another vehicle fell in behind him. Witnesses and investigators say shots erupted from both vehicles; one bullet struck Edil in the head and his car came to a stop on Nolensville Pike. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives traced the violence back to an argument earlier that night involving a relative of Edil’s at the club; that relative had left before Edil arrived. Police released descriptions of the vehicles and asked the public for tips, with Spanish-language outlets urging Nashville’s Latino community to come forward. Family members described profound grief and the silence left in their home.

On May 31, 2022, U.S. Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, stopped a man wanted in connection with the case. He was identified as 25-year-old Darwin Perez-Castellanos and later transferred to Nashville and booked on a first-degree murder charge; news accounts identified him as one of the suspects and indicated investigators believed others were involved. Did anyone in the area that night see the Toyota Tacoma or the other vehicle follow Edil’s Camaro along Nolensville Pike?