On the morning of December 15, 2020, Max Reed, 31, was shot and killed inside an apartment in the 3600 block of Michigan Court in East Chicago, Indiana, after an earlier dispute escalated. The confrontation began that day when 22-year-old Tyree K. Williams said he accused Reed of threatening two women. Witness accounts and statements to investigators describe Reed returning to the apartment later and, allegedly feeling disrespected, holding Williams, Williams’ girlfriend, and Reed’s girlfriend at gunpoint. Williams told police he grabbed a firearm hidden under a pillow and shot Reed in the head, and Reed was pronounced dead at the scene.

Williams fled after the shooting and told officers Reed had been armed and that Williams had dropped his own gun before leaving; however, no weapon was found near Reed’s body when police arrived. Williams was arrested and charged with murder and stayed in custody while the case was reviewed. On February 22, 2022, a judge granted a prosecutor’s motion to dismiss the murder charge after a review found the state could not disprove Williams’ claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, and Williams was released.

Are there witnesses or anyone with additional details about what happened in that apartment who can help clarify whether a firearm was present near Reed?