LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — More than one year after a local man died while in police custody, his family could finally get answers.
Clark County officials are set to hold a fact-finding review to look into the circumstances surrounding the death of Byron Williams.
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A fact-finding review is done when a police involved death occurs and the District Attorney's office determines that criminal prosecution of the officers involved is not appropriate.
In September 2019, officers attempted to stop Byron Williams after he was spotted riding his bike without safety lights near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Bonanza Road. When he didn't stop, officers started chasing him. Williams dumped the bike and ran to a nearby apartment complex.
"As officers were placing Williams into handcuffs, he, like the officers who were chasing him, appeared winded from running a good distance and jumping the walls," explained Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Asst. Sheriff Charles Hank during a Sept. 9, 2019, media briefing.
The coroner ruled Williams' death a homicide saying he died of several factors, including meth intoxication, other significant conditions like heart and lung disease, and prone restraint. Police say Williams was an ex-felon with a lengthy rap sheet in both California and Nevada.
He was wanted by police for failing to check in and failing to charge his ankle bracelet while on electronic monitoring for a previous crime. Williams' family is pursuing federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuits.
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They are also asking Metro to release all of the body camera footage from the incident. They say there is a 14-minute span where police officers turned off their cameras before medical attention arrived. We spoke with Williams' family last month, they say all they want now is justice.
Teena Acree, Byron Williams' niece says, "It doesn't get better, it gets worst, especially when we have to gotten justice, especially when there are so many accounts and people that are still being murdered in similar matters, enough is enough and it needs to stop."
During the review Friday morning the District Attorney's office will present witnesses and essential facts surrounding the incident. That all begins at 8 a.m.
