NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nearly four years after a 19-year-old man was found shot inside a burning car in South Nashville, police say a new round of witness interviews helped lead to an arrest in the case.
Metro Nashville Police charged 35-year-old Deshawn Joyner with criminal homicide in the November 2022 death of Pablo Ical-Caz. Joyner was already being held in the Metro Jail in connection with an unrelated robbery case when he was booked on the new charge.
Ical-Caz was killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2022, in the parking lot of Southern Hills Condominiums on Wallace Road.
Police and firefighters were initially called there after someone reported a blue Kia on fire. When crews reached the car, they found Ical-Caz in the driver’s seat. Police said he had been shot and badly burned. He died at the scene.
Investigators got an early break in the case just days later, when officers recovered a semi-automatic handgun during an unrelated traffic stop.
Testing at the MNPD Crime Lab later linked that gun to the bullet that struck Ical-Caz, police said.
The man who had the gun told detectives he bought it on the street. Investigators eventually traced the sale back to Joyner.
Police interviewed Joyner in 2023. According to MNPD, he admitted selling the gun but denied having anything to do with Ical-Caz’s death.
The case remained under investigation until detectives conducted new witness interviews this month.
One of those witnesses told police he had been with Joyner the night Ical-Caz was killed and accused Joyner of shooting him during a dispute involving a woman.
Police said that new information, combined with the earlier ballistics evidence and years of investigative work, led to the homicide charge.
Joyner’s bond is set at $1 million.
Homicide Sgt. Madison Meiss and Detective Cooper Gauldin are leading the investigation.
Kelsey Gibbs brings us a powerful story of humanity, compassion, and love in action while showing us the hard and lifesaving work our officers do daily. Nashville is lucky to have people like Lt. Hotz wearing the badge.
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