Worcester man faces dangerousness hearing for illegal gun possession

BOSTON, October 11, 2022 —A Worcester man is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing after being arraigned in Roxbury BMC today on charges stemming from a September shooting that left an unidentified person wounded, District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

LYONEL WILLIAMS, 39, is charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Illegal possession of ammunition, possession of a defaced firearm and possession of a large-capacity magazine.  Judge David Poole ordered Williams held without bail pending a October 17 dangerousness hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Martinelli said that on Sept. 15 at 7:39 pm Boston police responded to a ShotSpotter activation on Georgia Street and found two 9mm shell casings, blood  droplets and a wallet with personal papers in the name of Lionel Williams.  A witness told officers that an individual who appeared to be shot walked up Georgia Street onto Hartwell Street.  During their search for the apparent victim officers found a Glock 17 9mm firearm loaded with 17 rounds in the yard of a house on Hartwell Street.

The officers were unable to locate the shooting victim.  However, in the days following the incident, officers gathered video surveillance footage from various viewpoints.  The footage showed four men fighting and then dispersing.  Further footage showed an individual walking into the rear yard of a Hartwell Street house holding a dark object in his hand.  The individual sat on a stone wall in the yard, and when he stood up the object was no longer in his hand.  Officers later discovered the firearm in this backyard.  Officers identified Williams from the surveillance footage as the person who entered the backyard and sat on the wall, and obtained a warrant for his arrest.  Williams was arrested Saturday.

“This is excellent police work that led to a high-capacity weapon capable of major carnage off the street.  We saw, with the death of a 14-year-old on Monday, the terrible consequences of illegal guns in the hands of people all too willing to pull the trigger,” Hayden said. 

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications