In the early morning hours of April 28, 2017, Virdia Beard, a 37-year-old female, was found unresponsive on the porch of a residence on the 200 block of North 9th Street in Newark, New Jersey. Responding officers and emergency medical services discovered she had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:38 a.m.
The investigation into her death quickly progressed, and a week later, on May 5, authorities arrested 30-year-old Turqoise Williams. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office identified Williams as the suspect in Beard's shooting death. At a subsequent bail hearing, prosecutors described the killing as an act of domestic violence, revealing that Williams and Beard had been in a romantic relationship.
Williams was charged with a number of serious offenses, including murder, witness tampering, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful
purpose. She was also charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Following her arrest, Williams was held at the Essex County Correctional Facility without bail as she awaited trial.
The legal proceedings against Williams came to an abrupt end when she died in custody on October 22, 2017. The case, which had been moving through the criminal justice system, was concluded by her death. Authorities did not release the cause of her death.
