Police chief's brother dead, had run-ins with officers

Will Ujek and Mike O'Mara | WKYC-TV, Cleveland

CLEVELAND — The brother of Cleveland's police chief died in a shooting early Tuesday morning, apparently at the hands of his girlfriend.

William D. Williams, 34, was found dead when officers responded to the scene on the city's East Side. He was shot once in the head, said Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolman's Association.

Williams was the brother of Police Chief Calvin Williams, 50, who became head of the department in February 2014 after serving nearly 30 years on the force.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Chief Calvin Williams and his family," Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said in a statement. "I ask that everyone respect their privacy during this difficult time."

Officers were alerted to the shooting at 2:50 a.m. ET, and the victim was dead when they arrived, according to Officer Ali Pillow, a Cleveland Police Division spokesman.

The 911 caller, whom officials said knew William Williams, told dispatchers that he believed someone was injured inside the house.

The house is owned by William Williams' girlfriend, Dana L. Johnson, according to Cuyahoga County property records. It was transferred into her name in December from the Ryan D. Williams Trust but has at least three years in back taxes and penalties totaling more than $4,300 that are due.

It wasn't immediately clear how long William Williams and Johnson had been in a relationship. He has three children, two with Johnson, William Williams' friend and business partner, Russell Johnson, told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

William Williams bought the property for $127,900 in April 2012 and transferred it into the trust in May 2014.

A foreclosure notice was filed against the property in April 2013, according to Cuyahoga County court records. That case in various forms remains active.

Dana Johnson, 36, also is a suspect in William Williams' killing, according to a Cleveland Municipal Court arrest warrant that charged her with aggravated murder in the case. Pennsylvania State Police and U.S. Marshals tracked her vehicle, finding it around 10 a.m. more than 100 miles away on Interstate 376 near Brighton Township, Pa., about 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

As troopers approached her car, Dana Johnson held a gun her head and fired once, according to a Pennsylvania State Police news release. Authorities think she may have been heading to Maryland where she has relatives.

It was the same gun used to kill William Williams.

Dana Johnson remained in critical condition Tuesday night at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital, officials said, countering an earlier report that she had died.

Dana Johnson was indicted in 2009 on charges of food-stamp fraud, according to Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts records. She pleaded guilty to aggravated theft in January 2010, was sentenced to probation and completed her term without incident.

William Williams has had numerous run-ins with police:

• In July 2012, he was arrested in the Cleveland suburb of East Cleveland on charges of possessing criminal tools and attempted drug possession, according to court records. He pleaded guilty later that year to the lesser offense of attempted drug possession and served a week in jail.

• In May 2014, he was stopped in Cleveland for failure to display his license plates and also was found to be driving under a suspended or revoked driver's license, according to Cleveland Municipal Court records, which also show other traffic stops as far back as 2000.

• In February 2012, after he was pulled over in Lake County, he was charged with improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. That charge was later dismissed. In January 2008 in Cuyahoga County, he was arrested for disorderly conduct and was found not guilty three months later.

An invalid license plate was found on his car Tuesday, parked at the house where he died.

On some court records, William Williams' address is listed as another house about a half mile away that his brother Calvin Williams owns.

Court sources said William Williams was part of the anti-government, sovereign-citizen movement that believes each person can decide which laws to obey and which to ignore, and he has filed a number of documents with the courts related to that philosophy.

An investigation of the homicide is continuing, authorities said. The Cuyahoga County medical examiner is performing an autopsy on William Williams.

Contributing: Tom Meyer, WKYC-TV, Cleveland