On the early morning of November 9, 2016, 33-year-old Nikolla Berishaj was shot while sitting in his parked car outside his Sterling Heights condominium on Denver Circle North. He had returned from a night out at Legends Night Club in Detroit and was struck in the chest by multiple shots shortly after 2:25 a.m. He was taken to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township but died of his injuries.

Investigators say Berishaj may have been followed from the nightclub to his home, a drive of about 20 miles, after a reported minor altercation at the club. Cell site location information later placed a phone near the club about fifteen minutes before Berishaj left and near his condo just before the shooting. That digital trail led authorities to James Deshawn Williams, then serving federal time, and federal prosecutors charged him in October 2021 with participating in a murder-for-hire plot that allegedly resulted in Berishaj being killed by mistake.

The case against Williams relies heavily on the cell site evidence; a 2024 federal ruling refused to suppress that data. Anyone with information about Berishaj, his movements that night, or the events at Legends Night Club is asked to come forward.