In the early morning hours of July 8, 2021, the quiet of a Donaldsonville, Louisiana, hotel was shattered by violence. Inside the OYO Town House along LA 70, 25-year-old Qwonkeious Williams, an African American male known affectionately as 'Gummie,' was found lying in a hallway, having suffered a fatal gunshot wound. The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office responded to the scene around 2 a.m., beginning an investigation into the tragic death of the young man.
Investigators soon learned
that the shooting was not a random act but the culmination of an altercation that had taken place at the hotel a day earlier. Their attention quickly focused on a single suspect, 33-year-old Marty Leonard of Pierre Part. Surveillance footage from the motel proved to be a critical piece of evidence. The video captured Leonard at the scene, reportedly stating his intention to shoot and kill someone. It then showed him pacing in the moments before Williams walked into the motel and headed towards his room. Leonard confronted Williams and shot him multiple times, leaving him to die in the corridor.
Later that same day, authorities located and arrested Marty Leonard. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, illegal use of a weapon, and possession of marijuana. He was booked into the Ascension Parish Jail to await legal proceedings.
In July 2025, a jury found Marty Leonard, then 37, guilty of the second-degree murder of Qwonkeious Williams and of aggravated criminal damage to property. The conviction for second-degree murder carried a mandatory life sentence in prison, bringing a measure of justice for a life cut tragically short.
