In the early hours of a Monday morning in Washington, D.C., the life of 20-year-old Percy Williams was cut short. On October 19, 2015, at approximately 2:06 a.m., Williams was found with gunshot wounds in the 1900 block of Capitol Avenue, Northeast, in the Ivy City neighborhood. He was a Black male who had grown up in the very community where he was killed. Emergency services responded to the scene, but Williams ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The Metropolitan Police Department launched a homicide investigation into Williams's death. In an effort to gather leads, they released a video of a potential suspect and offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Despite these efforts, as of late 2015, no arrests had been made, and the police continued to investigate the killing in the largely Black neighborhood.
Percy Williams was no stranger to the challenges of his neighborhood.
As a 12-year-old, he had passionately advocated for a recreation center for the youth of Ivy City, even testifying before the D.C. Council. However, his teenage years were marked by personal struggles, including the loss of his father and a conviction for drug distribution. At the time of his death, he was on probation but was also working as a technician after earning a certificate in a construction program. Friends and family remembered him as a generous and caring individual who, despite his own hardships, looked out for others in his community. His death left a void in the lives of those who knew him, and the case remains listed among the city's unsolved homicides from that year.
