New details emerge in Dominique Williams shooting death at Coligny Beach Park

The day Dominique Williams, 17, was shot to death this summer at Coligny Beach Park, some of his friends had tried to reach him by phone and warn him that a 15-year-old claimed to have a gun and a score to settle, according to recently released investigative report from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

The report provides new details of the murder that sent shock waves through the greater Hilton Head Island community where violent crime is rare. The crime also prompted vigils for Dominique and calls for an end to gun violence.

The 15-year-old shooting suspect, whose name has not been released because he is a juvenile, had been ridiculed by other teenagers following a fist fight between him and Dominique on July 18, the day before the shooting, according to the report. A video of the fight was posted on social media.

A few teens interviewed by police said the 15-year-old threatened to kill Dominique after losing the fight. But his threats weren't taken seriously, because he had been known to "talk smack," according to the report.

On July 19 about an hour before the shooting, the suspect called one of Dominique's friends, asking where Dominique was.

"I got the 40 cal waiting for him," the suspect said, according to the Sheriff's Office report.

Dominique was shot in the head at about 8:15 p.m. near the Coligny fountain.

The suspect was turned in two days later by his parents and charged with murder and possession of a firearm during commission of a violent crime. He is being held in a juvenile detention center in Columbia. An evaluation is pending on whether he could be tried as an adult.

The days before the tragedy

Witnesses gave investigators the following account of the events leading up to Dominique's death.

On July 17, two days before the shooting, the suspect claimed that Dominique had stolen $60 worth of marijuana from him.

The next day at about 4 p.m., Dominique and the suspect were in a fist fight on Hilton Head. Following the posting of the fight on social media and the subsequent ridicule, the suspect allegedly said he would shoot Dominique by 7 p.m. the same day. He was teased more after that deadline passed.

On July 19, the suspect called two friends of his and Dominique's and asked where Dominique was, telling one about having a .40-caliber handgun.

Both witnesses said they did not take the threat seriously, but tried to warn Dominique that the teen could be headed his way. After repeated phone calls, one reached him.

Dominique responded, "I'm not trying to waste my time on this man," according to the report.

The suspect went to Coligny after 7 p.m. with another friend. Those with him said they didn't believe he would carry out his threat.

But as he walked quickly up to Dominique, he pulled a gun from the waist of his pants that had been concealed in a purple bag. He shot him at point blank range in the head.

One man reported that he had seen several male teenagers behind him not wearing shirts near the Coligny fountain, and then he heard a "very loud pop."

He saw one of the teens fall while another one ran toward South Forest Beach Drive.

"That's what you get," he thought he heard one of them say.

The aftermath

A crowd gathered around Dominique who was lying on the ground.

A nurse who was visiting Hilton Head called 911 and began to perform CPR.

Army Sgt. Saul Brown was walking off the beach with his wife when he saw the commotion. He was visiting the island from Ft. Belvoir, Va.

He has been trained in CPR but had never performed it before on a person. He approached the nurse and relieved her.

Brown said he could tell Dominique had been killed instantly, but he said it was important to keep performing CPR to keep the crowd calm -- so people could see something was being done.

He was on auto pilot while performing the procedure, but said he was later bothered by the death when he had time to reflect.

"I could tell he was a kid," Brown said last week when contacted by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette. "I have a daughter myself."

He said he performed CPR for five or so minutes before EMS arrived to take over.

A crowd of about 20 or 30 people had gathered, he estimated.

"There were a lot of people around that were just kind of looking around, asking what was going on," Brown said. Some were distraught, but the scene was not chaotic.

The friend the suspect had called to find out Dominique's whereabouts got a second call from him. The suspect sounded out of breath and said simply, "He's dead."

Another said he got a call from the suspect's phone, but there was only heavy breathing on the end.

Moments later, both witnesses heard that Dominique had been killed.

Deputies arrived at about 8:20 p.m. and began to investigate. No weapon or suspect was found, though several witnesses had identified the 15-year-old as the shooter.

Deputies began to search for the suspect, and on July 20, they interviewed his grandparents, who said they had not heard about the shooting and did not know where the suspect or his parents were.

On July 21, attorney Jared Newman of Port Royal called the Sheriff's Office to say he was representing the suspect who wanted to turn himself in. Newman said his client would not be giving any statements.

An investigator asked Newman about the handgun, saying he was concerned about safety.

"Newman stated that the gun was safe but would not go into any detail about the location of the weapon," the report said.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Bob Bromage and 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said last week they could not comment on whether a gun had been turned in.

An attempt by the Packet and Gazette to reach Newman for comment was unsuccessful.

One witness, when asked by an investigator why he thought Dominique had been shot, could only guess at what was going through the suspect's mind.

"He could only speculate the motives for the shooting was the theft of the marijuana, the embarrassment of losing the fight and overwhelming peer pressure from social media about the fight," the report said.

Follow city editor Don McLoud at twitter.com/IPBG_Don.

Related content:

• Juvenile suspect in July Coligny Park fatal shooting awaits psychological evaluation
• Dominique Williams' mother, grateful for support, has message for parents
• Juvenile suspect in Coligny homicide turned in by family
• Teen's slaying a first at Coligny Beach Park

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 7:18 PM with the headline "New details emerge in Dominique Williams shooting death at Coligny Beach Park."