On a late October night in Flint, Michigan, three-year-old Messiah Williams was in his living room with his babysitter and an older sibling when dozens of bullets tore through the house. Messiah was struck in the head, taken to a local hospital in critical condition, and died from his injuries on October 23, 2020. Family remembered him as an innocent and loving child whose favorite thing was Yoda.

Investigators determined the shooting was retaliation and that Messiah was not the intended target. Authorities said the gunfire was aimed at a man staying at the home who was reportedly a suspect in the recent murder of the mother of one of the men later charged in Messiah’s death. Four men were charged: Shamir Banks, London Walton, and Camron Burnett were accused of carrying out the shooting, and Desean Montez Davis was accused of organizing it. Banks was convicted of first-degree murder in April 2026 and sentenced on June 8, 2026, to 30 to 60 years; Walton and Burnett were acquitted, and Davis accepted a plea to accessory after the fact. Messiah’s family has since advocated for proposed Messiah’s Law to increase penalties for firing into occupied buildings that injure or kill children.

Does anyone have information about that night or remembered seeing anything unusual in the neighborhood around the time of the shooting?