Mother Confident Son Did Not Kill Dorchester Gas Station Clerk
UPDATE 11/16/18: Prosecutors withdrew murder charges again Kevin Williams, citing insufficient evidence "to establish guilt or innocence."
BOSTON (CBS) - Regina Hunter is emphatic that her son, 21-year-old Kevin Williams, is not a murderer. "I'm going to say with 100 percent confidence there is no evidence that's going to show my son did this because he was home," she said.
He was taken into custody the night of October 6, shortly after 67-year-old Jose Williams, a Dorchester gas station attendant, was gunned down during an attempted robbery.
"My son is stating that they stopped him for walking while black because he didn't do anything," Hunter told WBZ-TV.
Boston police say they have the strength of a strong witness identification and video surveillance from the scene. But Hunter says she has the strength of a mother's conviction that her son was in their Dorchester apartment helping her pack for a move the next day.
"You say you have video of my son committing this crime then prove it," Hunter said. "Don't keep holding him."
The family says there's more video surveillance taken from cameras outside their apartment that show Kevin Williams leaving the apartment at 11:46 p.m. to visit a friend who lives nearby. Shots rang out at 11:35 p.m. which they say makes the timing impossible.
"It's at least a half mile or sixteen minute walk. If you're running maybe sooner," said the family's attorney Aviva Jeruchim.
Kevin Williams spent five weeks in jail charged with murder and weapons offenses until last Friday when he was released on personal recognizance. A spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney would only say evidence was presented before a grand jury.
"I'm coming forward so that another young black male isn't snatched off the street and thrown into a pipeline for jail," said Hunter.
So far the charges remain in place but the family of Kevin Williams is determined to change that.