In the quiet community of Van Buren Township, Michigan, a dispute between two men escalated to a fatal conclusion on the evening of April 9, 2014. Eric Williams, a 44-year-old Black male, was shot and killed just before 8 p.m. near a camper at 49170 Michigan Avenue. The man responsible for his death was Kenneth William Coskie, a 74-year-old man who lived in the camper.
The shooting was the culmination of a simmering conflict between the two men.
The roots of the deadly encounter were traced back to a prior altercation. Coskie claimed that Williams had previously assaulted and robbed him. Specifically, Coskie told police that a few days before the shooting, Williams had broken a window in his camper and struck him on the head with a mag light, stealing money from him. Fearing another confrontation and potential harm, Coskie armed himself. The situation came to a head when Williams appeared at Coskie's camper. Coskie, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, fired a single shot that struck Williams in the back.
Following the shooting, law enforcement arrived to find Williams deceased at the scene. An autopsy would later reveal that the shotgun wound to his torso was the cause of death. Van Buren Township police quickly identified Kenneth William Coskie as the shooter and took him into custody. During the investigation, Coskie admitted to shooting Williams, stating that he was scared and did not want to be beaten up and robbed again. He recounted the previous alleged assault as the reason for his fear.
Kenneth William Coskie was charged with first-degree murder and felony firearm. His case proceeded to a jury trial, where the details of the fraught relationship between him and Williams were presented. After deliberation, the jury found Coskie guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, as well as felony firearm. This verdict suggested the jury may have considered the mitigating circumstances of Coskie's fear, even if they did not fully accept his claim of self-defense. The conviction brought a legal conclusion to the tragic death of Eric Williams.
