In a tragic turn of events on a cold January night in 2013, 18-year-old Deshalone Williams, a Black male, was killed in Gary, Indiana. His life was cut short by a senseless act of violence that also claimed the life of another young man.
On the evening of January 14, 2013, Williams and his friend, 21-year-old Terrell Frazier, were at a gas station at 15th Avenue and Clark Road. In a gesture of kindness, Williams agreed to give a ride to a man they apparently did not know well.
The man got into Williams' vehicle, and they drove off, heading north on Clark Road with another person also in the car.
The ride took a fatal turn when the passenger asked Williams to pull over at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Clark Road. As the man exited the vehicle, he brandished a gun and shot both Williams and Frazier in the head before fleeing the scene on foot. The two victims were rushed to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in a private vehicle. Frazier was pronounced dead the following morning, and Williams succumbed to his injuries late on the night of January 16, 2013. His death was officially ruled a homicide.
The investigation into the double homicide led police to a suspect, 20-year-old Samuel L. Franklin. Witnesses told investigators that Franklin was the man Williams and Frazier had given a ride to. According to a probable cause affidavit, as Franklin got out of the car, he stated, 'This is the procedure,' before opening fire. Authorities believe the shooting was not a random act of violence but was connected to a prior dispute between the victims and Franklin concerning a burglary where a shotgun had been stolen. On January 29, 2013, Samuel L. Franklin was formally charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of Deshalone Williams and Terrell Frazier.
