In the spring of 2014, the life of 20-year-old Lauren Williams was abruptly and tragically cut short. A resident of Garfield, Pennsylvania, Williams was three months pregnant with her first child and had been spending the day with a friend planning her baby shower. The evening of April 30, 2014, took a devastating turn when she was fatally shot.
The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. as Williams was leaving a relative's house on Kincaid Street. Her boyfriend, 20-year-old Kerrese Lawrence, emerged from an abandoned building and confronted her as she was getting into her car. Despite a witness's attempt to de-escalate the situation, Lawrence shot Williams in the face. She was rushed to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after at 10:45 p.m. The unborn child also did not survive.
The relationship between Williams and Lawrence had recently become violent. Just days before the shooting, Williams had reported to the police that Lawrence had threatened to kill her, their unborn child, and then himself. He had also damaged her phone to prevent her from calling for help. In response, she had the locks on her apartment changed, but Lawrence reportedly broke in while she was at work, renewing his threats.
Following the fatal shooting, Pittsburgh Police issued an arrest warrant for Kerrese Lawrence, charging him with the homicide of both Lauren Williams and her unborn child. In the hours after the murder, Lawrence allegedly took to social media, posting disturbing messages that appeared to boast about the crime. The manhunt for Lawrence concluded on May 2, 2014, when he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a home in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh following a brief standoff with a SWAT team.
