Tonya White, a 35-year-old Black/African American woman, was killed on September 22, 2022, at the Regal Forest Apartments on Trammell Road in Morrow, Georgia. White was a parent of four children, ranging in age from four to 16, and relatives later described her as a generous, caring person who often put the needs of others ahead of her own. Her death left her children and a close-knit family struggling with the sudden loss of someone relatives described as an important part of holding the family together.
At approximately 11:29 a.m. that Thursday, Clayton County police were called to the apartment complex in response to a shooting. When officers reached the parking lot, they discovered White inside a vehicle suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She was already deceased. Also inside the vehicle was 40-year-old Jornel Jamil Williams, who police said was still in possession of a firearm when officers approached.
The situation did not immediately end with the officers' arrival. According to police accounts, Williams refused commands to leave the vehicle while still holding the weapon. Because of the potential danger, officers began evacuating nearby apartment buildings as the confrontation developed. Eventually, Williams put the firearm down, exited or otherwise submitted to officers, and surrendered without the encounter escalating into another shooting. He was taken into custody at the scene.
As investigators pieced together what had happened, White's family publicly identified Williams as her former boyfriend. Clayton County authorities subsequently described the killing as connected to a domestic dispute, and later reporting identified White's death as one of the domestic-violence-related homicides authorities were confronting in the county that year. Police did not publicly release a detailed account explaining what led to the confrontation inside the vehicle or what was said or done immediately before the gunfire.
Williams was arrested and charged with malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime. The malice-murder charge represented the most serious allegation against him, while the additional counts addressed the alleged violent assault and use of a firearm during the offense. The reports identified him as the sole suspect arrested in connection with White's killing.
In the days after the shooting, White's relatives gathered for a balloon release and vigil to remember her. Her brother, Gregory White, and sister, Gabrielle Grubbs, spoke publicly about the depth of the family's loss and their desire for the community to remember who Tonya was rather than allowing her identity to be reduced to the circumstances of her death. Her family also sought information from people in the neighborhood who might have witnessed or heard something surrounding the shooting.
Funeral arrangements later announced that White died on September 22, 2022, and that a Celebration of Life was held on October 8 at St. Paul AME Church in Atlanta, followed by interment at Southview Cemetery. Public news coverage located regarding the criminal case documents Williams' arrest and the three charges filed against him, but does not provide a verified later disposition establishing a trial verdict, guilty plea, conviction, acquittal, or sentence. Accordingly, the available reporting supports describing Williams as the person charged in White's killing rather than stating that he was ultimately convicted.
