A cousin described Meisha Williams as a kind, loving, and nurturing person. The 30-year-old female, who had worked as a traveling nurse, was in her luxury apartment in downtown New Rochelle on the morning of Saturday, August 24, 2024, when her life was cut short. At approximately 10:13 a.m., police received a call about an incident at 55 Clinton Place. Responding officers found Ms. Williams deceased on her bathroom floor.
She had been shot twice in the back.
The New Rochelle Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division immediately began processing the scene and interviewing witnesses. Investigators quickly identified Ms. Williams’s boyfriend of several years, 28-year-old Robert Wooten, as the suspected shooter. A collaborative effort involving New Rochelle police, the NYPD, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and the Westchester County Real Time Crime Center was launched to find him. Using license plate readers to track his vehicle, authorities located Wooten in Queens. He was arrested around 9:00 p.m. that same evening. The firearm used in the shooting was never recovered.
Wooten, a resident of Atlanta, Georgia, was taken into custody and remanded to the Westchester County Jail. He reportedly told a public servant, "I think I killed my only support system." The investigation revealed a history of violence between the couple. Three months before the shooting, in May 2024, Ms. Williams had been arrested in Reston, Virginia, and charged with malicious wounding for allegedly stabbing Wooten at a gas station.
In September 2024, a Westchester County grand jury indicted Wooten on charges including two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon. He pleaded not guilty and remained in custody as the case proceeded to trial.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Wooten fired five shots at Ms. Williams during a verbal confrontation, striking her twice in the back. Wooten testified in his own defense, claiming he had acted in self-defense. In October 2026, a Westchester County jury found Robert Wooten guilty of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. As of that month, he remained in custody awaiting a sentencing date and faced a potential prison term of 25 years to life.
