In the early morning hours of September 16, 2018, the life of 27-year-old Daequan Dickerson of Binghamton, New York, was tragically cut short. Dickerson was on a sidewalk near the American Legion Post 80 on Main Street when he was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting. The incident occurred shortly after 4:30 a.m., with witnesses reporting the sound of approximately five gunshots before a dark-colored sedan was seen speeding away from the scene.
The vehicle was last observed heading north on Walnut Street. Dickerson was rushed to Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the homicide led to the arrests of two individuals. Keyama St. Joy, a 21-year-old from Endicott, was arrested in December 2018 and charged with second-degree murder. Authorities alleged that St. Joy was the driver of the vehicle involved in the shooting. In January 2019, a second suspect, 24-year-old Akeem Daniels, was indicted by a Broome County grand jury on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Following a week-long trial in July 2019, a jury found Akeem Daniels not guilty of the murder and weapons charges. His defense team argued that he could not have been the person who fired the shots. While acquitted of the charges related to Dickerson's death, Daniels still faced legal issues concerning a probation violation. The case against Keyama St. Joy on the charge of murder proceeded. Daequan Dickerson was a father of four children at the time of his death.
