On a cold December night in 1997, Memphis Police Officer Don Williams was working off-duty as a security guard at a local comedy club. His life took a tragic turn when he ejected a man from the establishment. The man later returned and, at point-blank range, opened fire on Williams. A single bullet tore through his neck, severing his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed. For over a month, the 38-year-old officer fought for his life, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries on January 29, 1998.
He was a 16-year veteran of the Memphis Police Department and left behind a wife and three children.
The investigation into the death of Officer Williams led to the arrest of Timothy McKinney. In 1999, McKinney was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the shooting. However, the legal battle was far from over. An appeals court later granted McKinney a new trial, citing ineffective legal counsel during his initial proceedings. The subsequent retrials resulted in hung juries, unable to reach a unanimous verdict. In a turn of events, in May 2013, McKinney agreed to a plea deal, pleading guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to time served and, having been incarcerated for over a decade, was released from prison.
Freedom for McKinney was short-lived. Less than a year after his release, he was arrested again, this time for the shooting of a 14-year-old boy in North Memphis. In January 2016, a jury convicted McKinney of attempted second-degree murder in this case. The shooting of the teenager, coupled with his prior conviction for the murder of Officer Williams, triggered Tennessee's three-strikes law. This resulted in an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. While justice for the death of Officer Don Williams took a winding and complex path, his killer was ultimately returned to prison for life due to a subsequent violent crime.
