On a late summer evening in Waterloo, Iowa, the life of Vincent J. Hemenway, a 49-year-old Caucasian male, was brought to a tragic and abrupt end. On August 15, 2020, Hemenway was with a group of people inside a garage on Adrian Street when the scene was shattered by violence. Just before midnight, police and paramedics were called to the residence, where they discovered Hemenway had been shot. He was quickly transported to a local hospital, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The State Medical Examiner would later confirm his death was a homicide.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a robbery gone horribly wrong. According to witnesses, two men wearing masks approached the garage. They attempted to take items from Hemenway, who resisted the robbery. In the ensuing struggle, one of the assailants drew a firearm and fired multiple shots at the group, striking Hemenway. The two men then fled the scene. Investigators later recovered a firearm and a cell phone they believed were connected to the fatal shooting. The incident began over a simple request to use a lighter, which one of the suspects snatched from Hemenway's hand. After a brief argument and one of the intruders directing the people in the garage to move, Hemenway protested, which led to him being shot.
Within months, law enforcement made several arrests in connection with the case. Seven months after the shooting, authorities charged 32-year-old Robert Lee Williams Jr. with first-degree murder for his role as the alleged shooter. He was already in custody at the Black Hawk County Jail on unrelated assault and weapons charges from other shooting incidents. Two other individuals were also implicated in the deadly robbery. Ana Berinobis-McLemore, 24, and Ralpheal R. Williams, 29, were both charged with first-degree robbery in connection with the events that led to Vincent Hemenway's death.
