Atlanta, GA - On February 28, 2008,
investigators from the U.S. Marshals Middle District of Florida and
the United States Coast Guard captured Derron Keenan Williams as he
attempted to flee the country.
Williams was wanted by the Atlanta Police Department for felony
murder and aggravated assault with a weapon. At approximately 3:30
am on February 9, 2008, Williams is believed to have intentionally
used his vehicle as a weapon to assault Weston Spratling after the
two had argued at a party in Atlanta. As a result of the incident
Spratling was killed.
On February 25, 2008, Atlanta Police Department (APD) and United
States Marshals Service (USMS) Southeast Regional Fugitive Task
Force (SERFTF) investigators teamed up and began working the case
together. On the morning of February 28, 2008, investigators from
the APD and the USMS-SERFTF were able to determine that Williams had
boarded an AirTran jet and flown to Jacksonville, FL.
U.S. Marshals in Jacksonville, FL
immediately joined the investigation and were able to locate a hotel
that William’s girlfriend had been staying. A short time later
Marshals determined that Williams had boarded a Celebrity Cruise
Ship bound for Freeport, Bahamas.
Marshals then teamed up with officers from the United States Coast
Guard in the search for Williams. Once the location of the ship was
determined Marshal Service investigators and U.S. Coast Guard
personnel boarded a 47’ Coast Guard Cutter from Mayport Naval Base
and began to pursue the Cruise ship in an attempt to catch it before
it entered international waters.
The ship loaded with approximately 3000 passengers was located and
boarded five miles offshore. At approximately 7:00pm, with the help
of the crew, U.S. Marshals were quickly able to locate, identify and
arrest Williams on the ship without incident. Williams was then
transported via the Coast Guard Cutter back to Jacksonville, FL.
Williams will be held in the Duval County Jail pending his
extradition back to Atlanta, GA.
The U.S. Marshal’s Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF)
is a team comprised of law enforcement officers from the United
States Marshal, as well as, 27 other local, state and federal
agencies. The task force’s objective is to seek out and arrest the
regions most violent offenders. Since the inception of the task
force in September of 2003, the SERFTF has closed over 11,300 felony
warrants. Annually, more fugitives are arrested by U.S. Marshals
than all other federal agencies combined.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov . |
