On Monday, a judge formally certified that 16-year-old Melvin Dump Williams would be tried as an adult for the 2022 slaying of Yuliya Li when he was 15. Williams, who has been charged with 2nd-degree murder and faces forty years in prison if convicted, had been initially charged in juvenile court. Steve Linders, a police spokesman, said that the suspect has an “extensive and violent criminal history.”
According to the criminal complaint, Ms. Li, originally from Kazakhstan but living and working in Minnesota after going to college in the United States, was on her way home with groceries for an upcoming dinner party when Williams began to follow her in a Ford Taurus. Unprovoked, Williams then shot her in the back of her head, killing her.
St. Paul police later found Li slumped over in the driver’s seat of her SUV. The car was locked and remained both running and in gear when police found her at around 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 16, 2022. At the time she was discovered, Li was still alive, suffering from the gunshot wound to her head. Despite being rushed to a hospital, Ms. Li died a short time later.
Police, describing how they found Ms. Li, said, “Callers to the Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center reported a shooting on the 1000 block of Payne Avenue at about 6:45 p.m. Officers rushed to the scene and found a woman inside a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound. The officers rendered aid and called for Saint Paul Fire medics, who responded and transported the victim to Regions Hospital. She died a short time later.”
KSTP, reporting on how St. Paul investigators fingered Williams as being responsible for the heinous crime, said:
Investigators found that Li’s SUV had a single hole in the rear window, and four spent 9 mm casings were found at the intersection, court documents state.
Those casings were later determined to have been fired by the same gun used in two other incidents in which Williams was a suspect, according to a criminal complaint.
Charging documents state that investigators looked at various security and surveillance videos to track the Taurus to an apartment that was listed as Williams’ address. Other videos also showed his face, which helped investigators recognize him, and his cellphone data also matched the location of the shooting and the route the Taurus took to get to Williams’ apartment, the complaint adds.
A spokesperson for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said, “Now that the youth has been certified to stand trial as an adult by the judge, we will do everything in our power to ensure that there is appropriate accountability for the alleged actions by the accused. We will seek justice for the victim, [Yuliya Li], her family, and our community.”
H.B. Fuller President and CEO Jim Owens released a statement on the killing, saying, “This tragic, senseless violence brought an end to the life of a bright, well-respected, committed, hard-working professional who will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her.” He added, “It is even more gut-wrenching to learn that the young suspect had committed other violent crimes but had been released. Our mayors, government officials and judicial officials need to create a system that does not allow young criminals to terrorize our community. Had they done a better job, Julia would be alive today.”
Featured images credit: Julia Li image from Facebook; Melvin Dump Williams from Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office
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