In the late afternoon of Sunday, August 19, 2007, the quiet streets of the Desert Shores community in Las Vegas were disrupted by a grim discovery. Eighteen-year-old Cory Bernard Iascone was found deceased in his Honda Accord on Point Conception Drive. He had been shot in the head and was discovered behind the steering wheel of his car, which was stopped in the middle of the road.
The young man, who had moved to Las Vegas from Rochester, New York, six years prior, was a former student at Palo Verde High School and was known for his love of lacrosse and ice hockey. His sudden and violent death left his family and friends in shock and searching for answers that would take nearly twelve years to uncover.
On the day he was killed, Cory had arranged to meet someone for a marijuana sale. He picked up a young man he knew as Jarrell, and along with a friend, they drove around making a couple of stops. Cory's friend was the last to see him alive, around 4 p.m., after being dropped off at home. At that time, Jarrell was in the backseat of Cory's car. Just thirty minutes later, Cory's body was found. The investigation into his homicide would soon grow cold, leaving his family with years of uncertainty. His mother and sister held onto the memory of a magnetic young man who, just the day before his death, had decided with his sister to change the direction of their lives. Cory had planned to finish his high school education and had aspirations of joining the Coast Guard.
For more than a decade, the case remained unsolved. Detectives changed, and hope began to fade for Cory's mother. However, a major break came in August 2018 when a confidential informant came forward to the police. The informant revealed that a man named Jarrell Washington, who had been friends with Cory, had confessed back in 2007 to robbing and shooting someone before discarding the gun in a lake. Acting on this new lead, Las Vegas police divers searched Lake Lindsey, located within a mile of where Cory's car was found. In December 2018, they recovered a. 25-caliber handgun from the water. Ballistics testing later confirmed in March 2019 that it was the weapon used to kill Cory Iascone.
Armed with this crucial evidence and phone records that showed multiple calls between Cory and Jarrell Washington on the day of the murder, police arrested the now 30-year-old Washington in June 2019. He was subsequently charged with murder with a deadly weapon and robbery. The arrest brought a wave of overwhelming emotions for Cory's family, who were grateful that detectives had not given up on the case. In July 2019, Jarrell Washington pleaded not guilty to the charges, initiating the final chapter in the long-delayed quest for justice for Cory Iascone.
