On the evening of July 24, 2018, gunshots were reported in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Police found 46-year-old Paul Williams Jr. of Southeast shot multiple times on the 800 block of R Street Northwest. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Investigators later identified a suspect and a warrant was issued charging 37-year-old Juvon Julian Searles with second-degree murder while armed. He was described as a Black man, 6 feet 1 inch tall and 249 pounds, and was considered armed and dangerous; authorities offered a reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Searles was arrested on February 10, 2020, and a judge later found there was sufficient evidence to send the case to trial, citing surveillance footage that showed an individual leaving the scene and the victim’s multiple gunshot wounds as establishing probable cause.

Anyone with information about Paul Williams Jr. or the events on R Street on July 24, 2018 is asked to come forward.