PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The man accused of killing the son of a Philadelphia police commander three years ago took the stand Tuesday and said he was not the shooter. The case will soon be in the hands of the jury.
Tyquan Atkinson went through his timeline on March 30, 2019. Atkinson said that he left the bar where he worked in South Philly, hung out with some friends in a school parking lot, and eventually met up with his girlfriend.
Police said she later told them he told her he “killed someone.” The defense said she was coerced into saying he confessed.
Atkinson said he could not remember where he was at the exact moment Nick Flacco, 20, was shot and killed.
Atkinson, 22, said he drove by FDR Park at some point and saw police lights flashing inside the park, but didn’t go in.
His attorney alleged his client was targeted on Instagram by the victim’s friends, and police never looked at anyone else.
Prosecutors said he purposely changed phone numbers and fled from police, trying to escape prosecution.
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Atkinson told jurors he was scared of finding out he was being looked at as the shooter, so he switched phones and went to his aunt’s house in Delaware County, and that’s why he ran from police when they came to serve an arrest warrant.
Over the last few days, prosecutors showed a video of the brawl, called eye-witnesses who said they were there and pointed to cell phone records which they say showed Atkinson was in the park at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors said Atkinson was motivated to shoot Flacco because the victim allegedly dissed the defendant’s good friend, who also was a victim of gun violence.
The defense said the state’s case is full of inconsistencies, including what clothes the shooter had on, and they said Atkinson was falsely identified as the gunman.
During closing arguments, they alleged that police beat Atkinson as he ran from them while serving an arrest warrant, while prosecutors said medical records show he fell during the chase.
The jury was expected to begin deliberations in the case Wednesday after the judge gives the jury instructions.
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