Danta Williams was 30 years old when he was killed in Atlanta on Saturday, January 2, 2010. The Atlanta Police Department investigated his death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Atlanta from 2007 through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
An online memorial gives a few more details. It says Danta Williams was born on August 10, 1979, and passed away on Saturday, January 2, 2010, and that he was a resident of Atlanta.
A public records listing also notes that a Danta Williams of Atlanta died on that date at age 30. The memorial page carries no messages from family or friends, and no news story about his death could be found.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how he was killed, exactly where it happened, whether he knew the person responsible, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Danta Williams's name also appears in a 2018 Washington Post investigation that listed thousands of homicide victims across major American cities whose killings had not led to an arrest. Being on that list means the case was still counted, years later, among those for which no one had been arrested.
The timing stands out. He was killed on the first Saturday of 2010, the day after New Year's Day, when many people were still off work and gathering with family and friends. His case also still appears on CrimeTea, an online cold-case listing, which carries his death as an active, unsolved murder in Atlanta.
Danta Williams is also a common name. Searches for it are dominated by other people who share it, which makes it harder to find any trace of the man who died in Atlanta and may help explain why his story has been so hard to follow. Searches also turn up an Alabama man with the middle name Danta who was convicted in a 2015 killing in Auburn; that case has nothing to do with his death.
The location recorded in the Post's database places his death in south Atlanta, southwest of downtown. People who lived or worked in that area in January 2010 may remember Danta Williams, and may remember the police activity that followed his death.
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia and the center of a metro area of more than 5 million people, recorded roughly 75 to 130 homicides a year between 2007 and 2017. Most victims in those years were young men, and most were killed with guns. Many killings from those years never led to an arrest, and the Washington Post's 2018 investigation counted Atlanta among the cities with large numbers of unsolved homicides. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Danta Williams could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Danta Williams, who saw him over the New Year's holiday in 2010, or who heard talk afterward of what happened to him, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit at 404-546-4235, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (404-577-8477), which may pay a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.
