Joe Sidney Williams Jr., a 55-year-old man from Killeen, Texas, was shot and found by police in the early hours of June 24, 2022, on the 1800 block of North 4th Street. He survived 40 days in hospital but died of his injuries on August 3, 2022; an autopsy ruled the death a murder.

Investigators identified 38-year-old Demetris Tyrone Prier as a suspect. Prier, already in custody on unrelated charges, was charged with Williams’s murder on January 19, 2024, after an arrest warrant from Justice of the Peace Gregory Johnson and bond set at $500,000. Detectives say witness statements, shell casings at the scene, and evidence from Prier’s phone linked him to the shooting. Williams’s death was recorded as the 15th homicide in Killeen for 2022.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to contact Killeen police.