A Framingham police officer on his way to a Wednesday morning briefing spotted two people walking on the sidewalk, one of whom appeared to be wearing a wig.
The keen observation led to the arrest and capture of a man wanted on a warrant out of Ohio, charging him with murder in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy.
The officer, Andrew Lewis, was on his way to a briefing with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, when he spotted the wig. At the briefing, officers were set to discuss their attempts to serve a warrant for the very man Lewis saw walking on the sidewalk.
Police subsequently arrested the man, identified as 25-year-old Dioblis Williams, of Columbus, Ohio. Williams is charged with being a fugitive from justice on a Massachusetts warrant, as well as murder on a warrant out of Ohio.
The murder charge is tied to the death of 2-year-old Ja’mir Jones, who was found in a bathtub in Columbus in 2020, Fox 28 Columbus reported.
On the afternoon of March 25, 2020, officers responding to a call for a drowning found Jones not breathing, according to the Ohio Attorney General. Officers called for a medic and began CPR, but the boy was pronounced dead at Children’s Hospital.
wif Police say Williams placed Ja’Mir in the bathtub unsupervised after the boy had an accident in his pull-up diaper, according to an affidavit filed in support of the charge against Williams, as reported by ABC 6.
An autopsy obtained by the station lists the boy’s manner of death as homicide, and lists the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the abdomen. The boy had bruises on his face, torso and neck, ABC 6 reported.
Williams is accused of repeatedly hitting Ja’Mir, causing his death, according to the station.
“Hallelujah, thank the Lord, thank the Lord,” Ja’Mir’s great-grandmother, Bernice Anderson Pearson, is quoted as saying by Fox 28. “I’ve been praying for this for five years, five long years.”
The warrant for Williams’ arrest was issued earlier this month, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
“Today’s arrest is a reminder that you can run, but you can’t hide. Mr. Williams thought that he could evade arrest and accountability by hiding in Massachusetts. I hope that today’s arrest brings us one step closer to justice for a young child whose life ended tragically,” Acting U.S. Marshal Kevin W. Neal said in a statement.
Williams will be arraigned on the fugitive from justice charge before being extradited to Ohio.
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