IT worker shot dead on Nashville hiking trail after screaming: ‘Help! He’s trying to rape me’

An “immensely talented” IT worker was shot dead by a stranger while exercising in a popular Nashville trail — with witnesses hearing her scream, “Help! He’s trying to rape me,” according to cops.

Vanderbilt University grad Alyssa Lokits, 34, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in an overgrown part of the Mill Creek Greenway around 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

Alyssa Lokits, 34, was shot dead on Monday. Vanderbilt University

She had been walking on the popular trail when a stranger stepped out from between two parked cars and started to quickly follow her, police said.

Witnesses heard her screaming “Help! He’s trying to rape me,” before gunfire, cops said.

Suspect Paul Park was arrested on Tuesday. MNPD Nashville

A suspect, Paul Park, 29, was arrested less than 24 hours later, with images showing him smirking in handcuffs while wearing sunglasses.

He was identified after witnesses saw the killer run with “scratches on his arms and blood on his clothing” to a BMW sedan, which was caught on a local resident’s dashcam, cops said.

The footage showed a partial plate as well as clear images of the suspect — which a homicide detective immediately recognized as Park having worked a suicide case involving his twin brother in December 2021, according to the police statement.

Paul Park is now facing criminal murder charges. Davidson County jail

Park was arrested by officers who set up surveillance at his home in Brentwood. set up surveillance at Park’s home in Brentwood, and followed him after he left.

When the arrest warrant finally came down, the authorities stopped Park in Davidson County and took him into custody on homicide charges. He was charged with murder and expected to appear in court on Thursday, CBS News reported.

Lokits’ heartbroken family called on her killer to be punished “to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Dr. Alyssa Lokits, Ph.D. was a force to be reckoned with—driven, successful, smart, and immensely talented,” her family said in a statement released to WSMV.

Alyssa Lokits had a PhD in neuroscience from Vanderbilt. Family photo via WSMV

“Her fearless spirit and unwavering love inspired all who had the privilege to know her. She was a friend to everyone, always offering her generosity, joy, and light to those around her.”

Lokits graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2017. At the time of her death, she worked in IT and lived a short distance from the Greenway.