Family Seeks Answers After Arrest In Activist's Fatal Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After more than two months on the run, a man was arrested this week in connection with the shooting death of a Minneapolis community activist.
Now friends and family of Tyrone Williams are working to make sure Williams' legacy lives on in the community.
On April 3, Williams was gunned down steps away from his mother's front door in north Minneapolis.
For two months, Williams' family and friends asked for help in tracking down the man they believed responsible, 27-year-old Sid Brady Strickland-Green.
On Monday, their prayers were answered with an arrest.
"We just want answers, we want clear answers as to why it happened," said Raeisha Williams, Tyrone's sister. "We know what occurred, we know what the ultimate result was, but we want to know why."
According to the criminal complaint, Williams was talking to two men in the area of 8th and Elwood avenues when one of them pulled a gun and shot Williams before leaving in a yellow Cadillac.
Police believe Strickland-Green owns the yellow Cadillac that was captured on video minutes after the shooting.
Friends say they can feel something positive happening in the community because of Williams' death.
"For people to begin to wake up to the reality of some of the violence that is impacting our community and the value of our lives," said activist Nekima Levy-Pounds.
Williams' legacy continues at the family business, The Heritage Tea House in St. Paul.
"His spirit definitely lives on here," said Williams' sister. "His children work here when they are not in school, hanging out. They are our little servers."
Community members are also buying pieces from Williams' clothing line, Black Coalition.
"Not only are people paying homage to Tyrone Williams and his legacy, but they are also helping to support his family and the four children he left behind," Levy-Pounds said.
Strickland-Green is being held on a $1 million bond.
Williams' family and friends hope young men and women carry on his legacy of peace, activism and giving back to the community.
