Donato Bradford II was a 24-year-old Black man from Augusta studying at the SAE Institute in Atlanta and living at the Westmar Lofts student housing. He pursued music and had a background as a competitive boxer.

On the morning of August 1, 2024, police found Bradford shot inside his West Marietta Street apartment and he was pronounced dead at the scene; investigators later concluded the fatal shooting occurred on the night of July 30, 2024. Surveillance footage from that night, described in testimony, shows a man repeatedly knocking, Bradford opening the door, and the man shooting him, briefly entering the apartment, then leaving minutes later wearing different clothing.

Investigators identified the man in the footage as Nahjel Williams, citing a matching tattoo, cellphone location data placing him about a mile from the complex before the shooting, and a vehicle seen nearby traced to his mother. A warrant for Williams’s arrest was obtained in November 2024; after his February 2026 arrest on an unrelated murder, authorities executed the outstanding warrant and charged him with Bradford’s murder, aggravated assault, and firearm possession. In March 2026 Judge Todd Ashley found probable cause at a preliminary hearing, clearing the way for presentation to a grand jury.

Did anyone who knew Donato at Westmar Lofts or in Atlanta notice anything unusual the night of July 30, 2024?