‘It felt like my whole back was on fire’
Ellazar Williams strained to sit himself up against a wall with three pillows scrunched behind his back. His legs were covered by a blanket in a makeshift bed in the living room of a flat in the South End where his girlfriend’s four children and her disabled mother live.
Williams, 19, was paralyzed from the chest down after he was shot in the back Aug. 20 by a police detective behind a school on Elk Street in the West Hill neighborhood. Williams reportedly ran from police following a disturbance at a nearby Central Avenue convenience store where a gun allegedly was displayed. Williams allegedly had a knife when the detective chased and shot him.
What he remembers of “the incident,” as Williams called the police shooting, is this: “It felt like my whole back was on fire. I was shaking. I was in mad pain.”
Medical personnel threaded tubes into Williams’ chest, mouth and nose. He remembered being unable to move his legs. A doctor appeared next to his hospital bed and told Williams he had bad news: He had been shot and was permanently paralyzed.
His girlfriend, Katia West, serves as
his around-the-clock caregiver. She pointed to an open pack of adult diapers on the bare floor. She wanted to buy him brand-name Depends, but she was broke and could only afford the Rite Aid store brand. She quit her two jobs, on the cleaning staff at a Colonie hotel and as waitress at a South End diner, so she could care for Williams. She has no income and has run through her meager savings.
West changes his wound dressing, replaces his catheter and changes his diaper. She has run out of new catheters from a limited supply the hospital provided. She cleans old catheters in boiling water and reuses them because she cannot afford to buy new ones. She is running low on clean bandages and medical supplies. Pill bottles containing his six medications line a mantle above a nearby fireplace. She injects him with a blood thinner. A painkiller supplied by the hospital is running low and she cannot afford to refill the prescription.
Williams recently qualified for Medicaid coverage, but they struggle to navigate the paperwork and some of his medications and supplies are not covered.
A standout high school athlete who had played basketball in Washington Park just days before he was shot, Williams tried to comprehend that he is now a paraplegic.
“I feel scared, confused, sad, a little bit of everything,” he said.
He spoke softly, almost in a whisper, and I had to lean in close to hear him over the metallic whir of two fans. West had braided his hair in tidy rows. His wispy moustache was more a boy’s than a man’s, and a gentle smile creased his lips, warily, after an hour of telling me his story.
Williams agreed to talk exclusively with the Times Union with the stipulation that he would not discuss details about the shooting. He is represented by attorney Steve Sharp from the public defender’s office. Williams was charged with felony menacing and misdemeanor weapons possession. After an internal police review, police officials said the shooting was justified. Community activist Alice Green, founder of the Center for Law and Justice, and other community leaders challenged the internal police investigation and called for a more thorough and impartial examination of the case. Earlier this month, a few dozen people held a rally in support of Williams at Malcolm X Community Park and organizers called on police to release more information about the shooting, including all surveillance tapes.
The matter is under review by Albany County District Attorney David Soares. The detective who shot Williams, James Olsen, who is white, was placed on administrative duties until police completed their review Sept. 7.
Williams was born in the Catskills in Monticello, Sullivan County. His mother, who raised him as a single parent, moved to Washington, D.C. when he was an infant. She died when he was 8. He was placed in foster care and was shuttled between homes in several cities, including Binghamton and Poughkeepsie, and spent time with his grandmother in South Carolina.
“I didn’t like being moved all the time and dealing with so many personalities,” he said. “Some of the staff were mean. The lady in Poughkeepsie would not let us go outside.”
His father was a sporadic presence in his life. He is incarcerated in Attica state prison. Williams said he has never visited his father in prison and has not seen him in years.
On Friday, Williams was released from Albany Medical Center Hospital after more than three weeks, with a bullet still lodged in his spine. He had nowhere else to go. He has struggled with homelessness. After moving to Albany from Binghamton in January, he lived for a few weeks at the Capital City Rescue Mission.
His older brother, Nick Grimm, who lives in Albany, and a friend drove Williams home from the hospital. They carried him from the car up a narrow staircase to the apartment.
Williams began to get his life in order after he met West last spring. He commuted 35 minutes by bus to work the morning shift at Moe’s Southwest
Grill in East Greenbush, where he prepped food and worked the line for the lunch hour rush. He took afternoon and evening courses at Abrookin Career and Technical Center in pursuit of a GED after dropping out of school in the 11th grade. His dream is to attend culinary school, become a chef and own a restaurant. His favorite chef is Bobby Flay. He watches cooking shows on TV and used to cook Southern dishes for West, the ones he remembered that his mother, an Alabama native, used to make for him as a boy.
“He has a good attitude and doesn’t let challenging things stop him,” said West, whose oldest child, a son, is the same age as Williams. She had her first child at 16 and dropped out of high school. She later earned a GED and a certificate as a nursing assistant. She helps Williams transfer into a wheelchair, provided by Albany Med, and encourages him to become proficient in the chair so he can eventually work in food service. She would like to find a job as a nursing assistant. Her four children are staying with relatives so she can focus on Williams’ care. She is working to help him regain the 25 pounds he lost while hospitalized.
West and Williams help each other stay positive, despite grim circumstances. “I try to stay focused and positive so I don’t get depressed,” he said. “She’s my angel.”
Both praised the assistance of Green, who set up a donation fund for the couple. She is focusing on their three most pressing needs: Wheelchair-accessible housing, a motorized wheelchair and food and medical supplies. She is urging city officials to join her in those humanitarian efforts.
“Dr. Green has been a blessing to us,” West said. “I can’t begin to thank her.”
Donations are being accepted at: Ellazar Williams Donation Account, SEFCU, 700 Patroon Creek Blvd., Albany, NY 12206.
Paul Grondahl is the director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpaul@gmail.com