On a summer evening in Waycross, Georgia, the life of 32-year-old Felicia Nicole Jefferson Williams, an African American woman, was tragically cut short. On June 18, 2016, what should have been an ordinary night turned into a scene of violence at the Garlington Heights Apartments. Around 10:35 p.m., the sound of gunfire shattered the peace, and when police arrived, they discovered a grim scene with four individuals having been shot.
Felicia Williams, born on June 10, 1984, in Homerville, Georgia, was a beloved mother to two sons, Kenneth Brandon Jefferson and Elijah Tramaine Cobb, and the wife of Cecil Bernard Williams III. She was an active member of her community and her church, St. Paul A.M.E. in Argyle. That night, she and 21-year-old Cameron Wilkins Jr. were pronounced dead at the scene by the Ware County coroner, both victims of the fatal shooting. Two other individuals were also wounded in the incident and were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The community was left in shock and mourning, grappling with the sudden and violent loss.
The Waycross Police Department immediately launched an investigation into the deadly shooting. Their efforts led to the identification and subsequent arrest of two suspects. Davante Marquise LeJune, who was 21 at the time, was apprehended in Blackshear, while 23-year-old Jarvis D. Edmonds was taken into custody in Homerville. Both men faced serious charges for their alleged involvement in the incident, including two counts of murder for the deaths of Felicia Williams and Cameron Wilkins Jr., and two counts of aggravated assault for the injuries sustained by the other two victims. The investigation continued as the community sought justice for the lives lost and irrevocably changed that night.
