Fingerprints Identify Suspect In 13-Year-Old Unsolved OKC Murder Case

Fingerprints helped Oklahoma City police solve a 13-year-old robbery and murder case. The man accused is currently in prison serving time for a double murder conviction.

Oklahoma County prosecutors charged Darrell Brown, 33, this month with one count of murder for the 2013 shooting death of a metro convenience store clerk.

In March 2010, police were called to a robbery and shooting at the SK Food Store in northwest Oklahoma City. Police found 27-year-old Prashanth Goinaka dead behind the checkout counter. Police said he had just moved to the United States from India.

“He was helping out a friend,” said Msgt. Gary Knight, Oklahoma City Police Department. “He wasn’t a regular employee at the store.”

Police later released grainy surveillance video of the robbery involving three suspects. Police said Brown was the accused shooter.

“The victim complied with all their demands. They had him lay down on the floor,” said Knight. “For whatever reason they shot him to death.”

According to court filings, investigators pulled a fingerprint from a coin tray at the murder scene. Police said the video showed Brown touching the coin tray during the robbery without gloves on. The fingerprint matched to Brown in 2021. However, due to a reporting error it was not sent to cold case detectives until this year. 

Brown has been in prison since 2013 when a jury convicted him of murdering a man and woman in northeast Oklahoma City. 

Police now need the public's help locating the convenience store murder victim's family to notify them of the break in 13-year-old case.

“We’ve even gone through the Consulate in Houston to reach out to possible family members in India,” said Knight. “Just to let them know that the person who murdered their son has been identified and is going to be held accountable.”

Police said the other two suspects involved in the store robbery were never identified.