Police Brutality / Individual record
Jai Lateef Solveig Williams
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Jai Lateef Solveig Williams in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-07-02 in Asheville, NC. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-467
- Incident date
- July 2, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Asheville, NC
- Agency
- Asheville Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 35
What happened
Jai Lateef Solveig 'Jerry' Williams, 35, was fatally shot by Asheville Police Sgt. Tyler Radford on July 2, 2016, after a vehicle pursuit between the Pisgah View and Deaverview apartment complexes. Police said they were responding to a report of gunfire and that Williams fled in a vehicle with three other occupants before an encounter in which they said he displayed a rifle. Other purported witnesses presented accounts that conflicted with the official narrative, prompting scrutiny of the shooting. An autopsy documented that Williams had been struck by nine police bullets; toxicology found alcohol in his system. The State Bureau of Investigation examined the case, including interviews with occupants of Williams's car. On December 15, 2016, Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams announced no charges against Radford, saying the evidence supported self-defense. Carolina Public Press examined the competing accounts, the medical examiner's findings, and the prosecutor's subsequent presentation of witness-interview material; the prosecutor's conclusion did not resolve the public controversy over police force.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1682
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- car
- Agency IDs (source)
- 1351
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset