Tyrone Brandon Nelson Jr., an 18-year-old African American male, was tragically shot and killed on June 30, 2019, in Burlington, North Carolina. The incident occurred at an apartment complex located at 15 Perry Circle. Alongside Tyrone, two other men, Kaseem Devon Zinebalist Peterson, 27, and Jason Deangelo Williams, 26, were also fatally shot. The shooting took place around 8:07 p.m., and the police found the three men dead of gunshot wounds upon arrival.
It was reported that at least one of the victims lived at the apartment.
The investigation revealed that the shooter was known to at least one of the victims and had been in the apartment earlier that day. A witness provided a description of the shooter and the direction in which he fled. The suspect, Hyquan Johan Parker, a 26-year-old African American male from Durham, was arrested the following day. Parker was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of parole violation. He was held in the Alamance County Jail with no bond due to the severity of the charges and his prior conviction for second-degree murder in 2009.
The trial for Hyquan Johan Parker began in October 2024, and he was ultimately convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The jury, which included one African American female, unanimously recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the trial, it was revealed that Parker had a history of gang affiliation and had been exposed to violence from an early age. His defense attorneys argued that his upbringing in a dysfunctional, single-parent home in east Durham contributed to his involvement in the crime.
The prosecution presented evidence that the three victims were fatally shot by a Norinco SKS semiautomatic rifle, which was later recovered from a nearby wooded area. The defense claimed that Parker had been called to the apartment by a friend to buy drugs and found himself outnumbered and in a dangerous situation. Despite these arguments, the jury found Parker guilty, and he was sentenced to three terms of life in prison without parole.
The case marked the first capital murder trial in Alamance County in a decade and highlighted the ongoing issue of gang violence and its impact on communities. The Burlington Police Department described the investigation as their deadliest in at least 15 years and urged anyone with information to come forward.
