DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — An 18-year-old DeKalb County man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for shooting and killing a six-year-old boy.
Meshon Williams admits he fired 31 shots into a home in 2018 - all because of a post on Instagram. Almost as shocking is the wild crime spree that occurred right before he was caught.
Williams’ reign of chaos came to an end with him hiding in the woods after he crashed his car – the end-result of a high-speed chase in DeKalb County. He was already accused of hurting a lot of people at that time. But nothing was worse than what he was convicted of during to six-year-old Z’Mari Mitchell.
"We simply will not tolerate this type of violence," DeKalb Public Safety Director Jack Lumpkin said.
On May 5, 2018, Williams drove a group of girls to a home on Sweetgum Lane in Decatur. The girls were allegedly upset with another girl about a post on Instagram.
RELATED: 6-year-old shot by teen who fired 31 bullets toward home after fight over Instagram post dies
The group attacked the girl in her front yard before her dad broke up the fight. As Williams was walking back to the car, he pulled out a gun and fired 31 times into the house.
"One of which struck a child, a six-year-old child," Lumpkin said.
Z'mari was playing in his living room. He died at the hospital four days later.
"At six-years-old that's something no one wants to see,” Capt A. Mears said. “That's uncalled for."
For this first time, we've now learned that Williams tried running over a police officer just two days before the shooting.
Williams, according to investigators, was driving a stolen car. A DeKalb County officer had his gun drawn and tried stopping Williams. That's when he rammed his car into the patrol unit several times before taking off.
"We want Williams to know that we're coming for him," Lumpkin said.
Fast-forward a week and Williams was on the run again. He got into a high-speed chase with police and crashed his car. He hid in the woods but the cops tracked him down.
He’ll now spend the rest of his life in jail. Police said that, at the time of the shooting, Williams was also a suspect in several car thefts. They're thankful he's off the streets.
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