Indictment finally comes for murderer of Indiana tourist staying in Bushwick Airbnb

November 23, 2022 Rob Abruzzese

The Kings County Supreme Court at 360 Adams St. Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle

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BUSHWICK — Justice may finally be coming for an Indiana tourist who was shot and killed while he was staying in a Bushwick AirBnB on a vacation in Brooklyn.

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Friday that the defendant, 26-year-old William Freeman, of Gravesend, was arraigned on an indictment that charged him with murder. Freeman allegedly shot 20-year-old Ethan Williams, while Williams was sitting on a stoop in Bushwick, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.

“Ethan Williams was a kind and compassionate young man who had his whole life ahead of him,” Gonzalez said. “His visit to New York City was the culmination of a lifelong dream and his untimely and unnecessary death is horrific and heartbreaking. I hope this prosecution brings some sense of solace to his family as we seek to bring this defendant to justice.”

Williams was a Indiana University student staying in Brooklyn at an AirBnB located at 42 Eldert St. in Bushwick while on a vacation. He and his friends were sitting outside on the stoop of the Brooklyn AirBnB at approximately 2:30 A.M. when Freeman allegedly opened fire on the group. Williams was shot in the chest and died of his wounds, according to prosecutors.

Freeman appeared before Kings County Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice on the indictment that charged him with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He is being held without bail and will return to court on Feb. 24, 2023. Freeman faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Freeman was not arrested until Nov. 3 near 480 Knickerbocker St. when police stopped a car in which he was a passenger. Prosecutors claim that Freeman admitted to the shooting because he thought someone in Williams’ group had killed his cousin weeks before.