Ja’Keem DeShun Williams, a 32-year-old African American man, was fatally shot on February 20, 2025, while riding an ATV in a Winter Garden, Florida, neighborhood. Police responded to the Bay Pointe Apartments on Horizon Street, where witnesses had been performing CPR; Williams was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say the incident grew out of an ongoing dispute over ATV riders in the area. Authorities identified 57-year-old Ralph Francis Hensel as a suspect based on witness statements and evidence. Hensel reportedly approached Williams, shouted at him, fired two shots, then walked toward the leasing office and said he had killed him. Hensel was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond after a grand jury indictment.

Family described Williams as a devoted father figure to five children and a kind-hearted, joyful person. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and attorney Natalie Jackson have been retained by the family; Jackson’s team said they will investigate whether the shooting could constitute a hate crime. It remains unclear whether Williams was specifically targeted or whether the killing resulted from broader neighborhood tensions over ATVs.

Did anyone in the Bay Pointe Apartments area see what happened or know more about the dispute over ATV riders?