Michael Williams, a 19-year-old Black male, was riding with his close friend and cousin Javon Johnson in SeaTac before dawn on March 23, 2020, when their car stopped for a red light at South 152nd Street and Pacific Highway South. Another vehicle pulled alongside and an assailant opened fire into their car, a sudden ambush that left both young men gravely wounded as glass and metal shattered around them.
Deputies rushed to the scene and medics transported the pair to Harborview Medical Center; despite emergency treatment, Williams died of his injuries.
Detectives described the attack as a drive-up shooting with multiple rounds fired before the shooter sped away, leaving behind a dark intersection, a riddled vehicle, and a growing roadside memorial tended by family. The King County Sheriff’s Office appealed for witnesses and surveillance footage from the busy highway corridor, emphasizing that people in the community had likely heard or seen something that could identify those responsible.
In the days that followed, the case drew renewed attention through Washington’s Most Wanted, which highlighted the lead investigator’s plea for tips and a $2,000 Crime Stoppers reward for information that leads to an arrest and charges. Even with those incentives, detectives publicly said they had not established a clear motive and were still working the evidence they had. As of the latest reports, no arrests have been announced and the suspect or suspects remain at large.
Williams’ killing was one of two homicides in the same incident; Johnson, 21, also died from the ambush, underscoring the suddenness and precision of the attack. Family accounts shared with local media remembered Williams as “Mikey,” on the cusp of his twentieth birthday, making plans for a simple barbecue with loved ones—plans replaced by a vigil and a search for answers that has stretched on as investigators continue to seek the crucial lead that will name the shooter and bring the case to court.
