In the early morning hours of March 3, 2019, a heated argument in a Woodbridge, Virginia, parking lot turned deadly, claiming the life of 25-year-old Daniel James Gilliam. The altercation took place near Rippon Boulevard and Jefferson Davis Highway, where Gilliam and another man, identified as Markus Sean-Thurman Dean, 23, of Alexandria, were engaged in a dispute that quickly escalated.
During the confrontation, a firearm was brandished, and Gilliam was shot in the upper body.
As Dean fled the scene on foot, uninvolved residents rushed to Gilliam's aid. Responding Prince William County Police officers arrived to find Gilliam with a serious gunshot wound and immediately began performing CPR before he was transported to a local hospital. Despite the efforts of bystanders and medical personnel, Daniel Gilliam succumbed to his injuries later that morning.
Witnesses at the scene provided a description of the suspect to the police, which allowed officers to locate a man matching the description nearby. Following a foot chase, Markus Sean-Thurman Dean was taken into custody without incident. Authorities also recovered the firearm used in the shooting. Initially, before Gilliam had passed away, Dean was arrested and charged with aggravated malicious wounding and held without bond. Following Gilliam's death, the charges were expected to be amended. On May 6, 2019, a Prince William County Grand Jury returned multiple indictments against Dean, including a charge of murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He remained incarcerated at the Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center.
