Bystander says suburban jogger murder suspect smiled at her moments after slaying

A woman who was walking on the Nashville trail when 34-year-old Alyssa Lokits was shot and killed shared with Fox News Digital that the alleged killer spoke to her moments after the murder – even staying behind and watching police work on the scene. 

Shannon Howard, a Nashville native and frequent visitor to the Mill Creek Greenway, described being on the trail Oct. 14, the day Lokits, a Vanderbilt graduate, was murdered and her encounter with the alleged killer, Paul Park. 

"So I usually go for a walk in the evenings on the greenway. There's usually a lot of people bicycling, walking, running, taking their kids, taking their pets. And that particular day, I delayed my walk about 15 minutes, but still pushed myself to get out the door," Howard said.

While she was on the trail, Howard said she came across Lokits, who she said was "laying on the ground, kind of in the fetal position."

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Howard said chaos ensued as people around Lokits were frantically calling 911 and urging first responders to get to their location as soon as possible. She said she kept her distance and did not realize that Lokits had been shot. 

Howard said she then made her way back to her car as it was getting late and her fiancé, now husband, did not like her on the trail alone at night.

Once she reached her car, Howard said there were several police cars with lights on, crime scene tape was being set up, but she knew a back way out of the park.

"So I turned and went up to a neighborhood that I wasn't completely familiar with, but I knew there was an outlet at the very back of that neighborhood that went back onto the greenway. As I did that, a gray car pulled up next to me, you know, rolled down the window, riding kind of slow. And I looked over, and he said, ‘Do you know what happened?’ And I said, 'I'm not, you know, completely sure what happened. Somebody got really hurt,'" Howard said.

"And so he kind of comes up to me, smiled, and he's still kind of riding next to me. I got a very good look at him, and he was trying to talk to me and I thought, 'You know what? I'm just going to go on home.' So I said, ‘Well, you know, hopefully everything will be OK.’ And I put my headphones back on and he kind of rode with me a little bit further," Howard continued.

Howard said the man, who she believes was Park, continued to try to talk to her and ask what was going on, even smiling, but she felt uneasy and cut the conversation short, and he left abruptly.

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It wasn't until she got home that the magnitude of what transpired on the trail struck her.

"Well, later on when I saw them bringing him out of the police car after they had arrested him, he had on sunglasses. So I thought, ‘Wow, that guy really looks like the one that stopped me.’ And then when I saw his mugshot, I dropped my phone because I knew I was like, ‘My God, that was him,'" Howard said.

"He was trying to talk to me. He wanted to know what happened. And it was almost like there was a light in his eyes when he was talking to me. And it made me kind of nauseous, to be honest with you."

Howard said she had a gut feeling and instinct that something was off with Park.

"I knew he was talking to me, trying to find out, you know, whatever I knew and that instinct of, 'OK, I'm just going to go home,' kind of kicked in. And that's what I did. But it was absolutely him," Howard said.

"When I saw his mugshot and I saw the darkness in his eyes… I dropped my phone, I literally dropped it on the couch."

— Shannon Howard

Howard continued and said, looking back at the fact that Park allegedly stood around to watch the whole scene unfold, even smirked about it, enraged her.

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"There was no feeling there. It was almost like he was proud because he wanted to stick around and see all the police cars," Howard said. "In the last moments of her life, all she knew was fear. And that enraged me that he had the audacity to do that, but then also to smirk about it and to try to talk to me or engage somebody to get more details. And he was proud of it. That's the impression I got."

Howard said she has become angry over time now that someone could do this in their area and in broad daylight with children and families nearby.

"He took a very beautiful girl who had, I'm sure, a wonderful future ahead of her. And he had no right to do that. He didn't have to shoot her. He didn't have to do any of that. And the anger still kind of resonates with me."

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Howard said the Mill Creek Greenway is a serene, roughly three-mile stretch of trail that people enjoy and is usually busy with parents and kids and lots going on. 

However, she said the second half of the trail is very overgrown with trees, no surveillance cameras, and no lights. She mentioned that there is even a sign that says the greenway is closed at dusk.

"He's not going to stop us from going on our walks. He's not going to stop us from being on the greenway. He doesn't get to win this one. And I think everybody around our neighborhood, all the families, we're not going to let him or anybody like him scare us away," Howard said. 

"It's a monster. I mean, it's just a monster. And that's what he is. He's a coward. Her alleged killer. I don't want to, you know, be the judge and jury, but he's a coward and he's a monster. And we've had enough. Nobody should feel unsafe on such a beautiful pathway," Howard said. 

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Howard added that Lokits' murder has made a lot of the women on the greenway be more aware of their surroundings and mindful when wearing headphones while on the trail. 

"Nashville is a wonderful place and wonderful people. As a native to Nashville, I have seen many changes, but we don’t want this to be what happens in our city. Giving into fear makes the monsters win. I won’t let them win. Every time I walk now, I will wear my ‘Walk for Alyssa’ shirt and I will be doing it for her," Howard said. 

Park, 29, of Brentwood, was arrested less than 24 hours after Lokits was found dead on the Mill Creek Greenway trail. 

Park was charged with criminal homicide in connection to Lokits' death, but officials have not revealed a motive in the killing. His attorney could not be reached for comment.