On the cold evening of January 4, 2017, the life of 26-year-old Francisco Cruz-Williams was tragically cut short in Allentown, Pennsylvania. A Hispanic male, Cruz-Williams was sitting in his parked BMW near the intersection of Ninth and Allen streets when he was shot twice in the chest. The gunshots echoed through the neighborhood, alerting nearby patrolling police officers.
Witnesses reported seeing Cruz-Williams stumble out of his vehicle after being shot, collapsing in a nearby alley.
He was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead. His death marked the first homicide of the year in Allentown.
Known to his friends and family for his love of rap music, Cruz-Williams was a student at Lehigh Carbon Community College, where he was studying sound recording and engineering with dreams of collaborating with local artists. His sudden and violent death sent shockwaves through his community, where he was well-liked. In the days that followed, friends and neighbors gathered at the scene of the shooting, leaving candles and other memorials as a tribute to a young life lost too soon.
The Allentown Detective Bureau, in conjunction with the Lehigh County district attorney's office, the county Homicide Task Force, and the coroner's office, launched an extensive investigation into the shooting. Detectives carefully processed the scene, collecting evidence from Cruz-Williams's car and the surrounding area, and interviewed numerous witnesses. Despite these efforts and the collaborative work of multiple law enforcement agencies, no suspects were immediately identified, and no arrests were made in the case. The investigation into the murder of Francisco Cruz-Williams remains open, and authorities continue to urge anyone with information to come forward as his family awaits justice.
