A woman who was walking on the Nashville trail when Alyssa Lokits, 34, was shot and killed shared with Fox News Digital that the alleged killer spoke about her moments after the murder – even while standing by and watching the police work the scene.

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

“So I usually go for an evening walk on the greenway. There’s usually a lot of people biking, walking, running, taking their kids, taking their pets. And on this day, I delayed my walk by about 15 minutes, but still I pushed myself to get out,” Howard said.

While on the trail, Howard said she came across Lokits, who she said was “lying on the ground, sort of in a fetal position.”

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Nashville native Shannon Howard claims she had a frightening encounter with Alyssa Lokits’ alleged killer. (Metro Nashville Police Department)

Howard said chaos ensued as people around Lokits frantically called 911 and urged first responders to get to their homes as quickly as possible. She said she kept her distance and did not realize Lokits had been shot.

Howard said she then went back to her car because it was getting late and her fiancé, now husband, didn’t like her alone at the track at night.

Once she got to her car, Howard said there was several police cars with the lights on, a crime scene tape was being installed, but she knew a back exit from the park.

“So I turned around and went up to a neighborhood that I didn’t quite know, but I knew that there was an outlet at the very back of this neighborhood that went back to the greenway. As I did so , a gray car pulled up next to me, you know, I rolled down the window, I was driving pretty slowly, and I looked, and he said, “You know what happened?” And I said, ‘I’m not, you know, completely sure what happened,'” Howard said.

“And then he came up to me, smiled, and he’s still next to me. I got a really good look at him, and he was trying to talk to me and I thought, ‘You know what? I I’m just going to go home. So I said, ‘Well, you know, I hope everything goes well.’ And I put my headphones back in and he kind of rode with me a little bit further,” Howard continued.

Howard said the man, who she believes to be Park, kept trying to talk to her and ask her what was going on, even smiling, but she felt uncomfortable and interrupted the conversation, and he left abruptly.

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Nashville police say a suspect has been arrested less than 24 hours after the murder of Alyssa Lokits. (Nashville Metropolitan Police/Vanderbilt University)

It wasn’t until she returned home that she was struck by the magnitude of what had happened on the trail.

“Well, later when I saw them taking him out of the police car after they arrested him, he was wearing sunglasses. So I thought, ‘Wow, this guy really looks like the one who me.’ stopped.’ And then when I saw his picture, 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 nauseous, to be honest with you.”

Howard said she had a hunch and instinct that something was wrong with Park.

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

“When I saw his picture 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, thinking back to the fact that Park would have stood there to watch the whole scene unfold, even smiling about it, made her angry.

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Paul Park was booked into the Davidson County Jail. (Nashville Metropolitan Police Department)

“There was no feeling. It was almost like he was proud because he wanted to stay and see all the police cars,” Howard said. “In the last moments of her life, all she knew was fear. And it enraged me that he had the audacity to do that, but also to smirk and say try to talk to me or hire someone to get more details and he was proud of it.

Howard said she has become angry over time now that someone could do this in her 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 do it. I have to shoot him. He didn’t have to do any of this. And the anger still resonates within me.”

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A man has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman who was killed while walking on a popular Nashville walking trail on October 14, 2024. (X/@MNPDNashville)

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

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

“He’s not going to stop us from taking our walks. He’s not going to stop us from being on the greenway. He’s not going to win this one. And I think everyone in our neighborhood, all the families, we We’re not going to let him or anyone like him scare us,” Howard said.

“He’s a monster. I mean, he’s just a monster. And that’s what he is. He’s a coward. His alleged murderer. I don’t want to, you know, be judge and jury , but he’s a coward and he’s a monster and we’ve had enough. No one should feel unsafe on such a beautiful trail,” Howard said.

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Howard added that Lokits’ murder has caused many women on the greenway to be more aware of their surroundings and more attentive when wearing headphones while on the trail.

“Nashville is a wonderful place and wonderful people. As a Nashville native, I have seen many changes, but we don’t want that to happen in our city. Giving in to fear makes the monsters win. I don’t “I won’t let the monsters win.” Every time I walk now, I’ll wear my ‘Walk for Alyssa’ shirt and I’ll do 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 with Lokits’ death, but authorities have not revealed a motive for the killing. His attorney could not be reached for comment.