A Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station official reported the suspect in a 2023 Valencia “cold-case” murder was taken into custody Tuesday.
Vincent Williams, 45, was “arrested this morning” at the SCV Sheriff’s Station in connection with a 3-year-old murder case, according to an email from Deputy Mariela Picard, who referred all further inquiries to the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.
Last year, the murder of Devin Marshall — a 37-year-old man shot to death outside his Vista Valencia-adjacent home on New Year’s Eve — was assigned to a Homicide Bureau task force working on unsolved murders.
Station deputies found Marshall bleeding to death that night in his black Toyota Rav4 and performed first aid on him before he was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
In search warrants seeking Williams’ cell-phone records for his digital trail around the time of the murder, investigators mentioned surveillance footage they believed could link Williams to the crime scene.
Detectives cited video of the two walking together minutes before Marshall’s truck is seen slowly rolling into another parked car, according to security footage detectives obtained. Neighbors awakened by a commotion recalled hearing three gunshots, which is also noted in the search warrant detectives filed.
But detectives did not believe they had enough evidence, so they continued to investigate and seek help from the public.
Homicide detectives previously indicated Williams was in a fight with Marshall in the weeks leading up to the murder.
Last month, homicide detectives issued a Nixle alert that showed a picture of Marshall and a grainy still of the security footage they obtained, in hopes that it would bring forward new information.
Based on Tuesday’s announcement, it has.
Lt. Chris Oakley said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon he couldn’t comment on the specifics of what led to Williams’ arrest that morning.
He said Williams was taken into custody while he was “out in public” and that he was arrested without incident.
Tuesday marks the second time Williams was taken into custody on suspicion of murder in Marshall’s death.
He was initially arrested hours after the shooting near where Marshall was found and identified as a “person of interest.” Homicide investigators accused him of “returning to the scene” of the shooting, but ultimately, he was released due to insufficient evidence.
In July, when homicide investigators were asked about Williams, they said he had previously been cleared, but detectives were “looking for more evidence.”
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office once again has 48 hours to decide whether to file murder charges against Williams in Marshall’s death.
