In the early morning of March 5, 2020, 41-year-old Shannon L. Williams died after being shot while trying to enter his sister’s home on the 300 block of Oak Lane in York, Pennsylvania. At about 1:30 a.m. Williams reportedly broke a window to gain access. His 36-year-old nephew, Daryl Sweatman, was awakened by the noise, perceived an intruder and fired multiple times at a figure coming through the door.

Williams was transported to York Hospital but succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds that night. The York County Coroner ruled the manner of death homicide, noting that homicide in their terminology means a death caused by another person and does not by itself establish criminal intent.

What details about that night or the people involved might help explain how this tragic misunderstanding occurred?