On the evening of February 16, 2022, Yuliya Li, a 34-year-old Asian woman, was driving home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after buying groceries for a dinner party she was planning. As she slowed her Mercedes to make a turn from Payne Avenue onto Cook Avenue, a Ford Taurus that had been following her pulled alongside. A single shot was fired from the Taurus, the bullet shattering the back window of Li's car and striking her in the head.
First responders found her bleeding profusely inside her vehicle. She was rushed to Regions Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The shooting was described by authorities as a random and unprovoked attack.
The investigation into the senseless act of violence quickly led police to a suspect. Surveillance footage captured a "muzzle flash" from the Ford Taurus at the moment of the shooting and also showed the suspect's vehicle at a gas station shortly before the incident. Ballistic evidence was crucial in the case, as the bullet casings found at the scene matched a firearm used in two other shootings linked to the suspect. This evidence, combined with the video surveillance, pointed to a 15-year-old named Melvin D. Williams.
Williams was arrested in Minneapolis and subsequently charged with second-degree murder. Initially charged as a juvenile, the case was later moved to adult court. In June 2023, then 17-year-old Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the random, fatal drive-by shooting of Yuliya Li. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to a term of no more than 386 months, just over 32 years, in prison. The plea deal also addressed other criminal cases pending against him.
