In the late spring of 2025, the lives of two Alabama teenagers were tragically cut short in a wooded area of Nashville, Tennessee. Amir Landan Wilkerson, a 19-year-old male, had traveled from his home in Alabaster, Alabama, to Nashville with his 18-year-old friend, Jamie Valdez Garcia. Wilkerson's family last saw him on the afternoon of April 27, 2025.
The following day, a person on a walking trail made a grim discovery in the woods situated between the Lincoya Bay Apartments and Percy Priest Lake: the bodies of Wilkerson and Valdez Garcia.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department responded to the scene and determined that both young men had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Wilkerson was identified by a wallet found on his person. The purpose of their trip to Nashville was not immediately clear to investigators, who began a homicide investigation into the apparent double murder. The Homicide Unit of the Metro Nashville Police Department began pursuing leads in the case, urging the public to come forward with any information.
Weeks later, the investigation led authorities to a suspect. On June 6, 2025, 23-year-old Josue Daniel Hernandez-Moxje, a native of Honduras, was apprehended in Kenner, Louisiana, on outstanding warrants for domestic violence, theft, and bad checks. Evidence discovered in the vehicle Hernandez-Moxje was traveling in was forensically linked to the murders of Wilkerson and Valdez Garcia. Following this development, and in consultation with the District Attorney's Office, warrants were issued for his arrest in connection with the killings. Hernandez-Moxje was extradited back to Nashville on June 24, 2025, and charged with two counts of criminal homicide. The investigation into the deaths of Amir Landan Wilkerson and Jamie Valdez Garcia is ongoing, with the possibility of additional charges being filed.
