Brooklyn gangbanger charged in fatal shooting of Indiana tourist was coerced by police into confessing, lawyer says

The lawyer for the Brooklyn gangbanger accused of fatally shooting an Indiana tourist in a case of mistaken identity claimed that his client’s confession was coerced and should be tossed.

William Freeman, 26, who pleaded not guilty on Friday to the 2020 murder of college student and avid skateboarder Ethan Williams, 20, admitted to the crime after cops traced the gun back to him.

His lawyer Jay Schwitzman, however, accused detectives of making improper promises to Freeman to get him to implicate himself in Williams’ murder, such as telling him he would be able to go home if he “admitted to participating in this.”

“My position is that this is a false confession,” Schwitzman said. “I’m confident that at the end of the day there were promises made either on the record or off the record to induce him to make false statements.”

Law enforcement sources said the killing was gang-related. The gunman mistook Ethan’s group for rival gang members he believed had murdered his cousin.

Cops identified Freeman as a person of interest more than a year ago, but did not have the evidence to make the case. They developed DNA evidence and matched to a gun recovered from the scene, the sources said.

Father Jason Williams, mother Susan Williams, sister Ella, brother Aidan.

On Nov. 3, after Freeman was arrested on an unrelated petit larceny charge in Manhattan, he made statements to detectives implicating himself and was charged with murder and illegal weapons possession.

Detectives are allowed to make promises to suspects in order to get their cooperation. But in recent years, there has been a movement to restrict those types of tactics by law enforcement.

The Friday arraignment spanned just a few minutes, but it had been two years in the making for Ethan’s parents, Jason and Susan Williams, who made the trip from Indiana.

“It’s all just really sad,” Susan Williams said “We missed Ethan. He was a good kid. He didn’t deserve any of this.”

Added Jason Williams, “He would have invited that guy onto the stoop to hang out, if he had not shot at him. He would have wanted to be his friend.”

Ethan was on a dream trip to the Big Apple with friends from home when he was killed. On Oct. 24, 2020, they were sitting on the stoop of their Bushwick Airbnb when someone opened fire from across the street. One round struck Ethan in the chest. He could not be saved.

Ethan Williams was pronounced dead at Wyckoff Medical Center after he was found with a gunshot wound to the chest in front of 42 Eldert St. in Brooklyn on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.

The parents of the slain man said that their son was a promising student and aspiring filmmaker at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. He was an avid skateboarder, and read voraciously.

He and his family were helping to raise money for a school in Rwanda, the native country of his adopted sister, Ella. He also has a brother named Aidan, who is in college.

Jason and Susan Williams speak to the media outside a courtroom in Brooklyn Supreme Supreme Court after William Freeman's appearance on Friday, Nov. 18.

Del Giudice ordered that Freeman would remain held without bail on Rikers Island. Schwitzman said he would make a bail application at a future hearing.

Three young woman and a man who attended the hearing to support Freeman declined to speak with a reporter.

The case is next on the calendar Feb. 24.

Del Giudice barred cameras from the courtroom, saying, “I don’t see any reason to have cameras in the courtroom but they (journalists) can take as many notes as they want.”

Content Source

California Press News – Latest News:
Los Angeles Local News || Bay Area Local News || California News || Lifestyle News || National news || Travel News || Health News

Related Articles

Back to top button