In the late hours of a Wednesday in Pittsburgh's Hill District, the promise of a bright future was tragically extinguished for 18-year-old Earnest Williams. On May 28, 2014, just a week before he was set to graduate from University Prep and with plans to start college in the fall, Williams was fatally shot in the back. The incident occurred just before 11:30 p.m. in the 800 block of Memory Lane.
A woman in the area, Chardai Warner, heard the gunshots and rushed to help the young man.
Before he was transported to UPMC Mercy Hospital, where he would later succumb to his injuries, Warner was able to speak with Williams. He told her his first and last name, his age, and provided his mother's cellphone number. His mother, Carla Staten, described her son as a 'good kid' who was not involved in drugs and did not deserve what happened to him.
In the days and months that followed, Williams' family made emotional pleas to the public for any information that could lead to an arrest. His mother expressed the profound loss she felt, stating that a part of her died with her son. Both Staten and Williams' grandmother, Gloria Bracey, urged the community to come forward and speak with detectives to help bring justice for Earnest. Despite their appeals for help and the ongoing police investigation, no arrests have ever been announced in the case, and the identity of the person or persons responsible for Earnest Williams' death remains unknown.
