Anthony Williams, 65, was a well-known presence on a Harlem corner where he sold and sometimes gave away jerk chicken. On the morning of September 20, 2023, while standing in front of 639 Lenox Ave., he was approached by a man intent on robbery. Williams tried to retrieve his belongings after they were taken and was shot in the chest; medics transported him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses described the assailant as a slim man wearing a gray Nike hooded sweatshirt, a black face mask, black jeans, and black sneakers. The suspect fled south on Lenox Avenue in a black Nissan Maxima. Family remembered Williams as a good, family-oriented man who often spent time talking with neighbors and serving the community from that corner.

The NYPD opened an investigation into the daytime killing. If anyone saw the robbery, the vehicle, or has other information about what happened that morning, please come forward.