Man accused of killing Philadelphia police inspector's son found not guilty by jury
The victim, 20-year-old Nicholas Flacco, was a Penn State student.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A man has been acquitted of all charges in the shooting death of the son of a high-ranking police official during a brawl at a south Philadelphia park three years ago.
A Common Pleas Court jury on Wednesday acquitted 22-year-old Tyquan Atkinson of murder, criminal conspiracy and weapons offenses in the March 2019 death of 20-year-old Nicholas Flacco at FDR park.
Atkinson, then 19 years old, was on the run for a few days, before police captured him in the city of Chester a day before Flacco's funeral.
Only Action News was there as Chester police and U.S. Marshals caught up with Atkinson.
Prosecutors said the victim was tailgating with friends after a Phillies game when several fights broke out among women from different groups and one threatened to "call her man." Officials said a man later fired twice and left but shortly afterward returned and shot Flacco, the son of an Internal Affairs commander who was home from college.
Prosecutors showed a video of the brawl, called eyewitnesses and cited cell phone records they said put Atkinson in the park at the time of the shooting.
But Atkinson took the stand and denied any role in the killing, saying he wasn't in the park and was elsewhere in South Philadelphia that night. He said he drove by the park at some point and saw police lights flashing, but did not go in. The defense also cited inconsistencies in the state's case such as what clothes the shooter wore.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's office released this statement on the acquittal:
"We again extend our deepest condolences to the family of Nicholas Flacco. The DA's Office vigorously and capably presented the limited evidence available in this case to the jury. Under our Constitution, juries have the power to decide these matters and they have done so."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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