It’s been a year since 35-year-old Matthew Zadok Williams was killed by DeKalb County Police after a woman wrongly claimed she saw a homeless man in the woods lurking near her home in Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta
“The fact that it’s been a year, and nothing has been done,” Zadok Williams’ frustrated mother, Chris Ann Lewis said.
The family of Zadok Williams says they’ve mulled over countless hours of bodycam footage to wrap their minds around how and why police killed their brother and son. “We can talk about this in such detail because we watched eight hours of the footage, eight hours or more,” Zadok Williams’ sister Zeporah Williams said.
Zadok’s sisters, Hannah and Zeporah and his mother, Chris Ann Lewis, have spent countless hours mulling over their loved one’s final moments on April 12 of last year. They say their brother and son was known for his big heart, thirst for learning and dry sense of humor, but all of those endearing qualities have been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his death.
“He was trying to get back in, he had locked himself out, he had been doing some work around his home and he was trying to reenter his home when police saw him, and it had been reported that he was a trespasser,” said Mawuli Davis, the Williams’ family attorney.
DeKalb County Police said in a news release on its Facebook page a day after the shooting, “[Zadok Williams] lunged at officers with the knife causing one of them to discharge their firearm.”
The family says Zadok Williams had a knife and bucket in hand for some plumbing-related work around his home. Released bodycam video picks up moments after officers are heard concluding a conversation with the woman who has been described as the housemate of the woman who called 911. Officers can be seen approaching Zadok at his home.
“Hey what’s up man, what you are doing around here, you live here?” one of the responding officers is heard asking Zadok Williams. “Do you know why we’re here?” the officer asked, and at this moment in their interaction, Zadok Williams can be seen walking down the steps on the frontside of his townhouse-style home. As he reaches the ground he runs.
One of the officers seen in the bodycam video fires one shot, but Zadok Williams was able to run back toward his home.
Moments later, Zadok Williams climbs atop his roof to break into his home from an upstairs window. Bodycam video does not fully capture this visual but debris on top of the roof can be seen falling to the ground near Zadok Williams’ front door.
As Williams was on the roof, he kicked in an upstairs window to enter his home — he apparently had locked himself out. By this time, three officers huddle around Zadok Williams’ front door on the porch.
“Put the knife down, put the knife down,” officers can be heard screaming at Williams, who’s just on the other side of his front door inside the home before the officers kick open the door.
The bodycam video shows the front door closing moments after police kicked it open. At this moment one of the officers fired a shot at the door. Audio from the bodycam picks up Zadok Williams telling officers, he’s defending his property.
“I’m defending my property” Williams says repeatedly. “Come out and talk to us,” one of the officers on the porch said to Williams while standing in an aggressive posture and gun drawn. Again, Williams says, “I’m defending my property,” as one of the officers responds with, “If you put the knife down you don’t have to defend nothing.”
Read the full story here:https://atlantablackstar.com/2022/04/14/im-being-given-the-middle-finger-matthew-zadok-williams-family-demands-accountability-one-year-after-suburban-atlanta-cops-gunned-him-down-in-his-home-let-him-bleed-out/