Police seek public’s help in murder probe

WEST CHESTER >> After obtaining video footage of a person of interest, West Chester police are asking for the public’s help to solve a murder investigation that is nearly a year old.

On Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, at 3:12 p.m., West Chester Police responded to the 1200 block of Allerton Road in East Bradford Township for a report of a body being discovered by workers clearing brush from beneath a PECO Tower.

The deceased was identified as Twain Cleveland, 36, who was reported missing by his mother in Philadelphia two days prior. The victim died of a gunshot wound above his left eye, police said.

The victim was last seen leaving the VIP After-Hours Club located on Tioga Street in Philadelphia at about 4:45 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2018, with Ernest Lee Hill from Wilmington, Del., and an unknown female who is not a person of interest in the homicide case.

Police said she is believed to be from Wilmington, Del.

Cleveland, 35, had family in both Wilmington and Philadelphia and was known to travel back and forth between the two cities, but had no known connection to Chester County.

He was able to be identified through fingerprints and information that was found on the body.

Using investigative techniques and discussions with Cleveland’s family in Wilmington, police were able to learn that Cleveland had been in Philadelphia at an after-hours establishment, the V.I.P. Club in North Philadelphia, the weekend he went missing. He was spotted on surveillance cameras entering the club in the early morning hours on Saturday, Feb. 17, and then was seen leaving with Hill and the unidentified woman around 4:30 a.m.

Police said Cleveland appeared to be celebrating his recent win of a significant sum of money at an area casino. The West Chester Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance with identifying the female as well as providing any information on the homicide. Contact West Chester Police Department at 610-696-2700 or the West Chester Police Detective Division at 610-436-1337.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Police are looking for this person of interest in connection with a local murder investigation.