Milwaukee crash killed teen, driver charged with reckless homicide
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man is charged with reckless homicide, among other crimes, in connection to a crash that killed a 17-year-old girl and injured five people – himself included – on June 30.
Prosecutors say Martinez Williams, 23, was knowingly driving on a suspended license when he slammed into a tree near 5th and Keefe.
The car was split in half as a result of the crash, which happened shortly after 5 a.m.
"The car opened like a can opener," said Palmer Bridges, neighbor.
"It was, the car was just mangled," said Lori Woods, neighbor.
Zariyah Williams, 17, died at the scene.
5th and Keefe crash, Milwaukee
"I tried to help, but she passed away," said Woods. "She was gone when I came outside."
Woods said the scene was shocking.
"Nothing that horrific in my life, no," said Woods. "That was terrible, terrible."
Martinez Williams and four passengers – a Milwaukee man, 23, a Milwaukee woman, 18, and two Milwaukee girls, 16 – were hurt.
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A criminal complaint states a victim told police Williams was driving the car when he began "cocking" and "whipping" it. The woman and girls in the car "yelled at him to stop," that victim said, but he didn't.
The car's tires left skid marks as it left the roadway, one that measured 264 feet, the complaint states. Home surveillance video showed the car come into the frame speeding, spinning and sliding before it hit a tree and then the railing of the home. The 17-year-old girl was ejected.
Prosecutors said Williams is seen in video running away with another person, only to come back, but he never checked on the 17-year-old, saying to another passenger, "She's dead" as he walked away.
"It's a tragedy," said Bridges. "It's a tragedy. Everybody lost right there."
Milwaukee fatal crash, 5th and Keefe, driver strikes tree
Per the complaint, Williams returned to the crash scene with his mother and said he was the driver, and the car was registered in his name.
He has at least 17 traffic-related convictions that go back to at least 2018 in multiple counties as well as Milwaukee Municipal Court. He was cited and found guilty six times for operating while suspended in the past 12 months, prosecutors said – most recently on June 16, just two weeks before the crash. For that reason, authorities believe he "must have known that his operating privilege was suspended on the date of the crash." He'd also been cited and found guilty of speeding in excess of 20 mph over the speed limit three times over the past 15 months.
In all, Williams is charged with:
- Second-degree reckless homicide
- Knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended, causing death
- Knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended, causing great bodily harm
- Second-degree reckless injury