In the spring of 2025, a trip to Nashville for two friends from Alabama ended in a tragedy that would take weeks for law enforcement to piece together. Eighteen-year-old Jamie Valdez-Garcia, a Hispanic male, and his friend, 19-year-old Amir Landan Wilkerson, traveled from their homes in Alabaster, Alabama, to Nashville on Sunday, April 27th. Their journey, however, took a fatal turn, leaving their families searching for answers.
The following day, on Monday, April 28, 2025, the bodies of
both young men were discovered by a resident in a wooded area situated between the Lincoya Bay Apartments and Percy Priest Lake. Both Valdez-Garcia and Wilkerson had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Homicide detectives from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department immediately began an intensive investigation into the apparent double homicide, trying to understand what had led to such a violent end for the two visiting teenagers. The case drew the attention of federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security, who assisted local detectives in the search for a suspect.
After nearly two months of a relentless investigation, authorities identified a suspect. The trail led them to 23-year-old Josue Daniel Hernandez-Moxje, a native of Honduras. Investigators entered a license plate of a vehicle Hernandez-Moxje was believed to be using into a law enforcement database. On June 6, a license plate reader in Kenner, Louisiana, alerted police to the vehicle's presence. Authorities in Louisiana took Hernandez-Moxje into custody, initially holding him on outstanding Nashville warrants for domestic violence, theft, and writing bad checks.
Evidence recovered from the vehicle was sent for forensic testing and ultimately linked Hernandez-Moxje to the April murders. By late June, he was extradited back to Nashville to face more serious charges. In consultation with the District Attorney's Office, Josue Daniel Hernandez-Moxje was charged with two counts of criminal homicide for the deaths of Jamie Valdez-Garcia and Amir Wilkerson. The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have indicated that additional charges could be forthcoming as they continue to delve into the circumstances that led to the deaths of the two young men.
