Affidavit: Accused killer sobbed outside Trenton bar
TRENTON » Accused killer Shannon Williams was crying outside a city bar when he asked strangers for a ride to the Donnelly Homes complex, where he had killed a man hours before, authorities said.
Williams, 25, is charged with murder and weapons offenses in the New Year’s Eve slaying of 47-year-old Emanuel Ross, who was gunned down near the capital city housing complex around 7 p.m.
Ross, who was the city’s 40th murder victim of 2021, was shot in the head, back and leg and later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Authorities relied on surveillance from the Donnelly Homes that captured the triggerman, clad in a green hooded sweatshirt, dark jeans and a dark baseball cap.
The killer was captured on surveillance loitering around the housing complex a couple hours before the murder, homicide detective Karl Johnston wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
He opened fire on Ross three times, as three spent shell casings were discovered near the victim’s body, along with a green towel that appeared to have blood stains and a water bottle, cops said.
A confidential informant identified the shooter as Williams, who was tracked about three hours later to Benny’s Bar on North Olden Avenue.
Authorities stopped a silver sedan that Williams was a passenger at the intersection of Brunswick and East Paul avenues, records show.
Police towed the vehicle and interviewed two others who were in the car with Williams.
Both didn’t really know the accused killer, and detectives, more or less, got the same bizarre story from them: Williams was crying at the bar and asked for a ride to the Donnelly homes.
They agreed to drop Williams off at East Paul Avenue. He didn’t say a peep during the trip.
The affidavit was also silent about a motive for the killing.