May 10, 2023
ST. PAUL, MN—More than a year after a 15-year-old teen randomly shot a businesswoman in the back of the head while she was driving home with groceries for a dinner party—killing her—has been identified and is facing charges as an adult.
Many netizens tried to take advantage of the 15-year-old’s hidden identity and blamed the attack on White-on-Asian violence. However, the suspect has now been identified as Melvin Dump Williams and he is African-American.
Dump Williams reportedly has a “lengthy criminal history.”
Dump Williams was charged Monday as an adult with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 34-year-old Yuliya Li, a marketing executive with H.B. Fuller who grew up in Kazakhstan and moved to Minnesota in 2007, reports Law & Crime.
Julia (Yuliya) Li was driving in the Payne-Phalen area when the “suspect opened fire, taking her life,” police spokesman Steve Linders stated on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
After the shooting, police searched the neighborhood for witnesses and surveillance footage.
They later found footage showing a Ford Taurus driver pulling up behind Li’s Mercedes-Benz and opening fire as the victim tried turning left at the intersection of Payne Avenue and Cook Avenue, according to the Pioneer Press.
Additional footage recovered later showed Dump Williams’ “clearly visible” face as he got out of the Ford Taurus at the Cedar Park apartment complex where he lived. Smartphone data also allegedly place Dump Williams at the shooting scene, according to Law & Crime.
Li joined H.B. Fuller, a publicly-traded Fortune 1000 company headquartered in Vadnais Heights, in a marketing role back in July 2017. She recently worked as a global business director and also led the company’s Amazon business project.
Dump Williams, who will turn 17 on May 21, remains in the custody of Ramsey County. His bail is set at $500,000.
Feature Images via Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office & Facebook