Bruce Lee Williams, Jr., 26, was shot and killed outside the Springhill Village Apartments in Staunton, Virginia, on July 9, 2020. Responding officers attempted life-saving measures but Williams was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators tied the killing to a planned robbery during a marijuana transaction after which an argument broke out; one of the men involved shot Williams as he tried to flee.

Two suspects were identified and arrested after fleeing to Georgia. Ja’Quez Eshaun Jerome Brown, 18, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Cameron Isaiah Bahle, 20, was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. At trial the court rejected a theory of willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder but found Brown guilty of first-degree murder committed during an attempted robbery, plus conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery, and use of a firearm in the commission of an attempted robbery.

Family and friends, including the mother of his children, Lesha Arey, publicly remembered Williams as a great person and an amazing father. He graduated from Robert E. Lee High School, was a devoted Dallas Cowboys fan, and left behind a son and a daughter. Does anyone have information about what led up to the transaction that night or witnessed the events outside Springhill Village Apartments?