In the early morning hours of July 2, 2015, in Erie, Pennsylvania, a talented 22-year-old Black male named Justin Allen Wiley was fatally shot. The incident occurred at approximately 12:20 a.m. near the intersection of 19th and Chestnut Streets. Responding to a 911 call reporting gunshots, City of Erie Police discovered Wiley unresponsive in the driver's seat of his silver Grand Am, which had come to rest in the yard of a corner house. He had sustained a single gunshot wound to the back of his head.
The investigation into Wiley's death led police to a suspect, Dawaun Dupree Carson. Evidence presented during the trial revealed an ongoing dispute between Carson and Wiley. Witnesses testified that Wiley had thrown a bottle at Carson's Jaguar outside a local bar a short time before the killing. Furthermore, on May 31, 2015, Wiley had reported to the police that Carson had fired shots at him near another bar.
During the trial, the prosecution built a case that implicated Carson in Wiley's murder. Testimony established that Carson was a heroin dealer. A significant piece of evidence was a letter Carson allegedly sent from Erie County Prison after his arrest, in which he sought an alibi for the time of the shooting.
A jury convicted Carson of first-degree murder in the death of Justin Wiley. On December 7, 2016, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition to the life sentence for the murder conviction, he received an aggregate sentence of 24 to 48 years for related charges. Carson later appealed his conviction, but the judgment of the sentence was affirmed.
