One in a series on unsolved cases in Ruston & Lincoln Parish
by Wesley Harris
Case No. 2
Victim: Lawrence Williams
Type of Case: Homicide
Date: November 2019
Status: Arrest made, grand jury did not indict
Although Ruston Deputy Chief Dylan Castaneda’s new job no longer entails direct involvement in criminal investigations on a daily basis, he still thinks about open cases he worked as a detective.
One of those cases was the death of Lawrence Williams, IV, 22, of Ruston.
Williams was shot to death on November 2, 2019 shortly after 2:00 a.m. in the 800 block of McAllister Street in Ruston.
Less than a week later following an intense police investigation, Randall Smith, Jr., 23, was arrested for second degree murder. He was jailed at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center with bail set at $1 million.
However, when the case went before a grand jury, witnesses recanted their accounts of Smith’s involvement. The grand jury failed to hand down an indictment and Smith was released.
A second witness testified before a second grand jury but still no indictment was handed down.
Police say the investigation into this case is still open but new witnesses or new evidence will be necessary to go back before the grand jury.
Yumeka Spencer, Lawrence’s mother, told the media in 2020 that her son was walking on McAllister when “some guys approached him, and they ended up shooting him.”
On February 29, 2020, members of Lawrence’s family were among 150 people who marched on Martin Luther King Drive, passing near the site of his shooting, to attend a “Stop the Violence” rally at Zion Traveler Baptist Church.
Rally goers stressed the need for the community to unite and teach youth that guns are not a solution.
Ruston Police Chief Eric Watson has repeatedly addressed the handful of cold cases held by RPD in community meetings, assuring families that those investigations have been revitalized since he joined the department in March.
In many of the cases Watson has reviewed, the assigned investigators had retired or left the department or moved to other assignments. Many cold cases have been reassigned to current investigators. Watson said he has personally reviewed the most recent cold cases.
Watson is frustrated by the turn of events in the Williams case with a witness who said he saw the shooting and identified a suspect later changed his story.
“The victim’s family knows [this witness] changed his story,” Watson said. “They know about him. And he knows I’m not too happy. He provided really good information that led to an arrest but then completely recanted. But this case is not over.”
Castaneda wants to see the Willliams case cleared by an arrest, but he knows that will take some help from the public.
RPD investigators can be reached at 318-255-4141.
