Cold Case Unit Makes Arrest In 2017 Unsolved Homicide

MOUNT VERNON, NY — The victim was found in an intersection and investigators never stopped following leads — that determination paid off when a suspect was arrested, police announced on Tuesday.

Mount Vernon police detectives made an arrest in connection with the 2017 homicide of Mount Vernon resident Tremaine Williams. Williams was found in the roadway at the intersection of East 3rd St. and Langdon Ave. on the morning of September 6, 2017. It appeared Williams had been struck by a vehicle and left on the road to die.

Detectives said there was an early break in the case when they were able to secure video of the incident and were able to identify the vehicle involved, but despite putting hundreds of man-hours into the investigation, the case remained stubbornly unsolved.

In the summer of 2020, the Mount Vernon Police Department created a small unit dedicated to re-examining cold cases. With the assistance of the FBI Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and the Westchester County District Attorney Office’s Cold Case Bureau, the unsolved homicide case was re-examined.

Additional evidence was developed and a case was made against the driver investigators believe ran over Williams.

On November 10, Edmund Pennil was arrested outside of his home in connection with the homicide of Williams. The 44-year-old Bronx man was arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court on second-degree manslaughter and was remanded to the Westchester County Jail.

Pennil has a criminal history that includes previous arrests for forgery and firearm possession, police said.