On an autumn morning, the quiet of a suburban transit stop was broken by a grim discovery. A Collingdale police officer on patrol noticed a man lying on the ground inside the SEPTA trolley stop on MacDade Boulevard. The man, 54-year-old Dwayne Williams, was unresponsive. First responders were called to the scene, but it was too late; Williams was pronounced dead. An examination by the medical examiner would later reveal that he had died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The investigation into the death of Dwayne Williams began to unfold as detectives reviewed surveillance footage from businesses near the trolley stop. The video showed Williams sitting on a bench before another man appeared, pacing outside the shelter. In a chilling sequence of events, the man raised his arm and pointed it at Williams, who then clutched his chest and fell to the ground. This crucial piece of evidence provided a clear image of the final moments of Williams' life and a description of his killer.
Further investigation of surveillance footage from the area provided a breakthrough. The suspect had been recorded at a local business making a purchase shortly before the shooting. Investigators were able to trace this transaction to 27-year-old Nicholas Hoyle of Sharon Hill. This lead was strengthened by the fact that Hoyle had a previous robbery conviction, which made him ineligible to legally possess a firearm.
Just two days after the shooting, investigators located Hoyle in Sharon Hill. When they stopped him, they found a gun in his waistband and, in his wallet, the very same card that was used to make the purchase before the incident. With this evidence, Nicholas Hoyle was taken into custody and charged with homicide and other related offenses in the death of Dwayne Williams. The swift arrest brought some measure of relief to the community, as expressed by the Collingdale police chief, who noted that bringing the killer to justice so quickly would ease residents' concerns.
