The funeral of Darnell McMullin, the 16-year-old who was found dead in Thornden Park last Friday, was held Wednesday afternoon as Syracuse Police are still searching for suspects in his murder.

Sgt. Tom Connellan of Syracuse Police said the case is now considered a homicide and police are continuing their investigation.

‘We’re still determining the last time he was seen alive,’ Connellan said. ‘We believe he was still alive as of (last) Thursday afternoon.’

Connellan said police are talking to friends and associates of McMullin. Police have also talked to local residents living near the area where McMullin’s body was found.

‘We’re following a lot of leads,’ Connellan said.

Police are not releasing McMullin’s cause of death until they make more progress in the investigation, Connellan said. He also said police cannot release whether or not they found a murder weapon or any other evidence at the scene in Thornden Park.

‘We will release the cause of death once we feel there is no more investigative purpose to it,’ Connellan said.

Connellan said the reason McMullin’s body was able to be identified by police was because he had been arrested before for selling drugs. Police already had McMullin’s fingerprints on file.

A local woman walking her dog found McMullin’s dead body last Friday morning. Lt. Joe Cecile of Syracuse Police said the woman walks her dog on the same path every day and knew something was wrong when the dog diverted from the trail. The woman called police at around 10 a.m. to report she had found the McMullin’s body.

Police searched the northern section of Thornden Park Friday until about 4:30 p.m., when McMullin’s body was removed from the scene.

Anyone who has information about McMullin’s murder can call Syracuse Police at 442-5222.

Published on March 9, 2005 at 12:00 pm