Damari Ali

Damari Anthony Ali, a 21-year-old Black man from Lehigh Acres, Florida, was murdered in what investigators described as a drug deal that had been set up as a robbery. He was killed on May 3, 2023, just days after his birthday.

On that evening, Ali drove to a rural area near Dominion Avenue South in Lehigh Acres to meet two men, Cameron Williams and Dayrian Howard, for a planned marijuana purchase. According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the meeting was a setup. When Ali arrived in his car, he was shot. Williams and Howard then dragged his body from the vehicle and hid it in the brush of a vacant lot. They drove Ali’s car about eight blocks away and abandoned it.

After Ali’s family reported him missing, sheriff's deputies found his car. Inside, they discovered blood splatter that indicated he had been shot from the front passenger side of the vehicle. The investigation led authorities to Williams and Howard, and a search of the home they shared uncovered bloody clothing. During questioning, Howard told investigators he heard six gunshots. Although he said he could not remember the exact location of the body, he drew a sketch of the site for authorities. Using that drawing, deputies located Ali's body six days after he was killed.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested both Cameron Williams and Dayrian Howard, charging them with second-degree murder with a firearm in connection with Damari Ali's death.

Williams, whose full name is Cameron Mikkell Eston Williams, was tried in Lee County. Following a four-day trial, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm in June 2025. On July 14, 2025, a judge sentenced him to life in prison. His accomplice, Dayrian Howard, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder with a firearm on November 14, 2025. For his role in the killing, Howard was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison on December 1, 2025.