Man shot and killed by neighbor while riding ATV

32-year-old Ja’Keem DeShun Williams was shot and killed behind a Florida residence after a dispute over riding an ATV in an apartment complex, police said.

Ja’Keem Williams killed over ATV dispute

Ralph Francis Hensel, 57, hid behind an apartment building and waited for Williams to drive by before he shot him to death, authorities say. He is now charged with first-degree murder.

Arrest affidavit

According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, the leasing office manager at the Bay Pointe apartments in Winter Garden, an Orlando suburb, called police just before 4 p.m. to complain about a man riding an ATV in the complex. Just a minute later, another call came in to report that someone had been shot.

Police arrived on scene and found a resident performing CPR on a man later identified as Williams. But it was “apparent he was deceased,” the affidavit said.

Witnesses

Witnesses told officers they saw Hensel, armed with a gun, walk from the leasing office toward Williams as he drove the ATV. Hensel shouted something at Williams, but witnesses said what Hensel said was intelligible. Shortly after that, the witnesses heard two loud shots.

Hensel reportedly walked back to the leasing office and said “I killed him.” Police took Hensel into custody and recovered a gun nearby.

Video

Surveillance video confirmed that Hensel was the alleged shooter. It showed him walking from the leasing office and around a nearby building with his firearm, where he stood “lying in wait,” according to police. Hensel then shot Williams as he rode past, cops said.

According to WESH, police have been called to the complex four times about people riding ATVs. The riders had been warned not to drive the ATVs in the complex, the TV news station reports. But Briana Bermudez, the mother of three of Williams’ five children, told the outlet that it still did not warrant Hensel to shoot and kill him.

Ja’Keem DeShun Williams was a devoted father

“He took the father of my three children with no remorse, walked off saying, I shot him,” Bermudez said. “He’s gone. He did not care. You shot him? Not once, but twice in the back of the head.”

Bermudez said Williams enjoyed riding ATVs as a way to decompress. He leaves behind children ages 11, 10, 6, 4 and 11 months.

Hensel is currently lodged in the Orange County Jail without bond. He has a court date scheduled for Feb. 28.