photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

Detectives have arrested a 23-year-old man in Sunday’s downtown Lawrence homicide.

Police announced early Tuesday morning that they had taken Daileon Maurice Thomas, of Olathe, safely into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of Victor Gabriel Moreno, 23.

Police have told the Journal-World that they do not have evidence of the two men having known each other prior to the incident Sunday.

Thomas was booked into the Douglas County Jail just after 8 p.m. Monday. The arrest came a day after Moreno was pronounced dead around 3 a.m. Sunday in a parking lot in the 700 block of New Hampshire Street. Police had responded to a report of gunshots.

Investigators initially used public video, private video, license plate readers and witness accounts to understand the sequence of events, police spokeswoman Laura McCabe said. They were then able to begin identifying the individuals involved and ultimately locate the suspect and arrest him without incident, she said.

Investigators were also able to recover the firearm they believe was involved in the killing, McCabe said.