New Castle County Police are still searching for answers in the unsolved murder of a Newark man that occurred on the final night of 2019.
Twenty-six-year-old Jahlil Patton was discovered fatally wounded next to his wrecked vehicle on Taylor Drive in the Beech Hill area of Newark on December 31st, 2019. Police officers arrived at the scene at 11:12 p.m. after receiving reports of someone lying near a car.
When authorities reached the location in the 19702 zip code area, they found Patton beside his crashed automobile. The circumstances surrounding both the vehicle accident and the shooting death have left investigators with numerous unanswered questions.
The case has since been classified as a cold case homicide, with detectives continuing to seek information from the public that might help solve Patton’s murder. The timing of the incident, occurring just minutes before the start of 2020, marked a tragic end to the year for the victim’s family and the Newark community.
Anyone with information about this unsolved homicide is encouraged to contact New Castle County Police as investigators work to bring closure to this case that has remained open for more than five years.
Source: https://nccpdnews.com/2025/12/30/cold-case-homicide-jahlil-patton-2019/