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Killer Thinks He Got Away... Doesn't Realize CCTV Caught Him
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00:00on may 18th 2024 just before midnight officers with the grand rapids police department rushed
00:05to a downtown alleyway after receiving reports that somebody had been shot i don't know where's
00:11your emergency i just heard some gush out and there seemed to be a person on the ground not
00:17responding
00:36the officers began cpr fighting to save the victim's life but it quickly became clear that they were too
00:42late it appears to be beyond medical health here it wasn't long before ems arrived and confirmed what
00:50the officers had feared the victim 15 year old lakija williams had succumbed to her injuries
00:56what was t-o-d 1348 that is a female lakija the police quickly secured the crime scene and
01:05immediately began their investigation is there casings over there do you guys know anything
01:10about what happened that's my sister that's my blood sister i don't know nothing i just died here
01:14they were able to obtain surveillance footage from the area and the moments leading up to the shooting
01:22were caught on camera right around the corner from the alleyway five kids can be seen riding
01:27around on scooters at around 11 30 pm one of these kids was lakija her brother the one in the
01:35orange
01:36shirt was leading the way as the group turned into the alley when he reached the end of the alley
01:40he
01:41looked to his right and saw a mysterious group walking towards him he immediately pulled a u-turn
01:46as if he was trying to avoid them when the group reached the intersection one of the members looked
01:51down the alleyway drew a handgun from his waistband and shot four times one of those bullets struck lakija
01:58in the back of the head both groups seemed caught off guard and scattered in different directions
02:03since the shooter had his face covered the police were unable to get a positive id so when detective
02:09brandon romero was put on the case his main objective was to hunt down the witnesses who were at the
02:14scene and hopefully they could identify the shooter in the meantime the dispatcher shared a general
02:20description of the shooter to all units so second information is the black male with a
02:25black and white sweatpants and dreads that's all we have at this point word quickly spread throughout
02:31the community of lakija's death and her friends and family began showing up at the scene looking
02:36for answers as to who did this since the police didn't have much information at this point they
02:47asked lakija's family to visit the station the next morning i can tell you guys personally that we
02:53have a really good start on this case okay did you guys get the video from the cinema yes yeah
03:00we got
03:00video and we've watched i mean there's a guy right now actively we're pulling cameras after a camera
03:06throughout the city the only unfortunate thing is we can't positively identify the shooter space if
03:11they ain't gonna talk there ain't nothing we can do we understand that there's gonna be juvenile young
03:17little kids ain't gonna want to talk to us as this moves forward but at the end of the day
03:20we'll get there okay trust me we'll get there the family had important information to share with the
03:25detectives they had reason to believe that lakija wasn't the intended target of the shooting instead
03:30it was more likely that one of lakija's friends had angered a local gang member after a fight that
03:36had recently taken place unfortunately they had no idea who was involved in the fight
03:46although this information was useful the detectives explained that speculation alone
03:51wasn't going to bring justice to lakija's killer biggest and most important thing out of this whole
03:56thing is we have to work backwards identify the people that she's with we gotta be able to prove
04:00stuff it's great being able to have you guys pass on information but that's called hearsay from the
04:07court size you can't go up on the stand and testify to that right we have to hear it from
04:10the people
04:11that actually saw it so moving forward if anything else comes up names please just call us or if you're
04:17able to talk to any of them that you know are there now for sure and they're willing to talk
04:21to us
04:21because at the end of the day we gotta piece this together she was gonna be somebody she was gonna
04:26go
04:26to the nba and there's not a shadow of a doubt in my mind i don't care what she had
04:32going on what
04:32happened tonight yeah i just want justice at least i know that y'all are trying to figure out what's
04:39going on trust me we're doing i'm going on about 12 hours of sleep last three days so believe me
04:45that's it's a priority and there's a lot of work being put into us detective romero spent the next
04:4948 hours organizing all of the security footage gathered from around the city and he managed to
04:54follow the shooter's movements throughout the night of the murder nothing seemed out of the ordinary
04:59as the shooter spent the night roaming the streets of downtown grand rapids he picked up some friends
05:05along the way and eventually it was the same group of people that were present during the shooting
05:09unfortunately detective romero still couldn't identify who this suspect was because of the mask
05:15he wore all night however after the shooting about two and a half blocks away from the scene of the
05:21crime
05:21he was finally captured walking down the sidewalk without a mask on he eventually met back up with his
05:27friends and they got in a car and drove away now that he had a better shot of the shooter's
05:31face
05:32detective romero asked lakaja's sister and one of her friends to come to the station for an interview
05:37hopeful that they could put a name to the killer's face you guys know why you're here do you understand
05:43right we are investigating what happened to your sister what do you know about what happened i was at
05:49home i was supposed to meet her downtown but then literally like 30 minutes after they got downtown i got
05:54a car and then he was like look how'd you got shot and i was like what by who okay
05:58i'm gonna show you
05:59a video i just want you guys to tell me who it is okay
06:06yes that's just like why is he not that's irritating clearing day 18 year old josiah pitman is a
06:14troubled teenager who also happens to attend the same high school as lakaja and her siblings he lives in a
06:20rough neighborhood in grand rapids where gun violence is common and death is frequent how do
06:25you know i knew him since i was in middle school i'm telling you that was every day yeah almost
06:31every
06:31single class together like oh really yes but we still like kept in touch like even after lakaja died
06:37i did text him and kept everything cordial like i didn't even know nothing i i just asked him on
06:42the
06:42phone like you killed lakaja and he told me no he lied so but i i will go and identify
06:51that but i will go
06:51if he go to court for this i'm gonna be at every single one i don't care at least i'm
06:55gonna go knowing
06:56that i spoke up from the cousin has he even been brought in do you still have enough evidence right
07:01now even though this was a step in the right direction they couldn't arrest josiah until a
07:06witness that was actually at the crime scene could confirm that he was the shooter the problem was
07:11that none of the witnesses were coming forward so on july 1st 2024 the grand rapids police department
07:17released this surveillance footage on their social media in the footage josiah's five friends can be
07:22seen four males and one female they appeared to be high school kids possibly in their late teens
07:28the same day they shared this clip police chief eric winstrom held a press conference urging the
07:34community to help identify the people in the video when you lose a 15 year old to gun violence in
07:43downtown grand rapids that falls on the whole city we have video evidence which shows that these five
07:48individuals were absolutely within uh feet of uh the murderer saw what happened saw who pulled the
07:58trigger and they saw lakija get killed and we need to hear from them we need to talk to them
08:04and we need
08:05the adults in grand rapids the parents the teachers to help us to identify these individuals stand up
08:14help us and do the right thing shortly after this press conference the police department received a
08:19call from someone claiming to know one of the people in the surveillance footage thanks to the
08:24information the caller provided detective romero was able to identify this girl he was eager to interview
08:30her so he went to the girl's house to speak with her mother hello how are you do you have
08:41a dog by
08:44okay tell her give me a call okay awesome thank you so much i appreciate it take care although the
08:51girl's mother seemed cooperative 20 days passed with no word from the witness and the investigators
08:57were beginning to lose their patience detective romero decided to contact the witness's mother again
09:02this time by phone and he explained that there could be serious implications if her daughter didn't
09:08tell the police what she knew detective romero hey how are you well i can explain a lot of things
09:27to
09:27you that will probably ease your mind there was a homicide that occurred down in the city of grand
09:32rapids and i've identified your daughter as being one of the i'm gonna call her a witness because that's
09:36what she is i can tell you this right now she was within feet of the individual who fired the
09:41shots
09:42and now do i believe she knew that it was going to happen i don't and that's just based on
09:47body
09:47language but she was with the suspect she just needs to understand that i am investigating a violent
09:52crime if you lie during a violent crime investigation you can be charged with it okay you're welcome bye
10:00the wheels were now in motion and it seemed like a witness interview was finally going to happen
10:05but before the interview could take place somebody called the police department reporting a stolen
10:10vehicle a seemingly unrelated incident it didn't take long for the officers patrolling the streets to
10:16track it down they pulled the vehicle over and as they approached it two people hopped out and booked
10:30the two suspects were surrounded so they began cutting through random properties and hopping fences
10:41the officers were right on their heels eventually they were able to catch up to
10:46one of the perpetrators and tackle him to the ground
10:57what's your name man josiah what's your last name josiah what is it pitman the officer had no idea who
11:06josiah pitman was until he checked his record and discovered that he was the prime suspect in lakasha's
11:12murder all right man you can step on out josiah was closely monitored while detective romero was
11:23informed that his murder suspect was in custody for an unrelated charge although this seemed like good
11:29news they still hadn't sat down with the witness to confirm that josiah was the shooter so they decided
11:35not to mention the murder investigation they charged him for stealing the car and fleeing from the police
11:40and josiah was released on bond soon after this incident the detective was finally able to sit
11:45down with the witness she believed the shooter was in the car with her on the night of the murder
11:49but she wasn't certain okay this guy the guy that had a balaclava a white balaclava um was he sitting
11:56in the front passenger seat of the car where were you sitting again i wasn't in the very back
12:03did you know anybody had any weapons inside the car did anybody talk about having any weapons
12:08no okay so just on this picture i just want to make sure i'm clarifying the guy that had a
12:12balaclava
12:14don't know his name but front seat passenger and you're certain that the other individuals that
12:19were in the car you don't know know them by any type of names okay right did he have this
12:26face mask on
12:27the entire time no so if you were to see if you were to see a picture of him would
12:32you be able to tell me
12:34that the person who's in the car okay okay i'm going to show you the video here captured from
12:39the downtown area i just want you to tell me if you recognize the individual it's only a nine second
12:45clip okay just to do i was in the passenger okay the detective finally had what he needed for an
12:54arrest a witness who confirmed that josiah pitman was the shooter investigators quickly tracked josiah
13:00down to a residence in south grand rapids and detective romero assembled a fleet of cruisers
13:06a canine unit and a swat team to execute his arrest a drone was also deployed so if anybody went
13:12in or
13:13out of the house law enforcement would know suddenly one of the units noticed somebody down the street
13:18that looked like josiah the units surrounding the house stood by while the swat team moved in on
13:31josiah however it was a false alarm the person they saw was just a random guy so the officers surrounding
13:44the residents were given the green light and they ordered josiah to come outside josiah we have a
13:49canine on scene do not attempt to flee we're not here to hurt you do as you're told you will
13:54not be
13:54harmed exit the front door with your hands up hands up hands up put your hands on your head hands
14:01on your
14:01head put your hands right back up josiah slowly exited the house carefully following the swat team's
14:07demands start walking towards us just listen to what we say you got him he was put in handcuffs
14:13and placed into the back of a police cruiser they transported him straight to the police station
14:20and brought him into the interrogation room for questioning do you have any idea why you're here
14:26at all i just want to bring your attention back to may 18th and it's specifically in the downtown
14:33grand rapids area do you remember anything about being down there no no no did you happen to hear
14:42about a 15 year old girl being shot in the downtown area yes you did see that i mean it
14:50should happen
14:51with the person that shot that girl you don't know
15:02this entire incident was captured on camera and i want to hear your side of the story as to what
15:11happened i want to hear it from josiah pippen oh you don't recall do you recall being there
15:21is it possible you were there you were not down there you don't know this is your opportunity
15:31what's that i don't remember you don't remember
15:37detective romero's emotions were already running high with lakija's killer sitting right in front of
15:42him and josiah playing dumb was only making things worse but the detective kept his cool and decided to
15:49confront him with screenshots of the surveillance footage i want to show you a picture who's that
15:58so you're going to stick with a story that you know nothing about it you were not down there
16:03after i just showed you six pictures of you downtown grand rapids that's your story hello yes or no
16:17thumbs up thumbs up okay yes this is no longer juvenile stuff buddy do you know how severe this
16:22is
16:26and you're okay with it
16:31you're okay with eating a murder charge
16:35all i can say is we have a 15 year old girl now that's dead i don't think she's the
16:40target
16:41there's more to this story this is why your opportunity right now to tell us the more of the
16:45story i don't have no story to tell clearly josiah had no remorse for gunning down an innocent
16:52person the detectives took his silence as their cue to end the interview he was booked into the county
16:58jail and the authorities held a press conference announcing his arrest over this past weekend the
17:03grand rapids police have arrested josiah tyree pitman and my office has filed charges against
17:08mr pitman for that homicide that occurred back on in may a 15 year old girl who was literally just
17:15riding her scooter in downtown grand rapids is gunned down and the family was devastated absolutely
17:22heartbreaking absolutely tragic absolutely avoidable we are not going to be the city
17:27that tolerates one of our children getting murdered and not following through at josiah's
17:33arraignment hearing the judge read out his charges but josiah didn't seem concerned whatsoever
17:38in fact he seemed bored the crime is called homicide murder second degree which in the state of
17:45michigan is a life offense or any term of years it is alleged that you did carry or have in
17:50your
17:50possession a firearm to with a handgun at the time you um committed or attempted to commit a felony
17:58he pled not guilty to his charges and was denied bond although josiah initially maintained his innocence
18:04he later admitted to being the shooter and changed his plea to guilty his sentencing took place on october
18:108th 2025 six days after his 20th birthday he had a smirk on his face as he sat down with
18:16his defense team
18:17lakiza's mom shaquita matheson had the opportunity to speak to the court and she urged the judge to
18:23hold her daughter's killer accountable lakiza's death did not only take my daughter it shook my entire
18:28family my other children are grieving deeply and live in fear that the same thing might happen to them
18:35i lost my son in 2011 to an unexplained death and while the pain is unimaginable the loss has been
18:46even harder to cope with my daughter i hope the person responsible is held accountable for their
18:51actions i share this not out of anger but out of honesty to make sure my daughter's life my pain
18:59our family's experience is truly heard and remember thank you for allowing me to speak in
19:05response josiah's attorneys did everything they could to vouch for their client explaining that
19:10lakiza's death was the result of josiah's trauma-filled upbringing mr pitman is a person who was a child
19:17in our community who was raised in this community who was subjected to incredible difficulty as a young
19:23individual as a young child he saw his parents being incarcerated he saw days where he had no parent
19:30oversight he was often moved from home to home when you have a young child who is at a young
19:36age
19:36looking out his window and seeing a gunman try to shoot another person when you're having a young
19:40person who knows that individuals that he is closely associated with are involved in gang violence and
19:46knows that because of his connection to those individuals that he is a target that he has in fact
19:51been targeted in the past it created an immense trauma mindset to be quite frank and it created a
19:58situation for josiah where he felt he was in a constant threat of gun violence so how does it
20:04stop how does the cycle i mean generation the generation or at least in this case
20:10your honor i wish i had an answer and i think here and i think the reality is i've known
20:15mr
20:15pitman for a year now since he got arrested on this and slowly over time he opened up and the
20:20first ways that he opened up was showing profound remorse mr pitman's remorse is true josiah was also
20:25asked if he had anything to say he read the message he had written aloud apologizing to lakaja's family
20:31for his actions first first i want to apologize to the victim of a victim family for the sinful act
20:37that i committed causing my very plan even though lakaja was not my intended target i was running under the
20:43rest of protection for letting the devil take control of my actions on that horrible day i hope that
20:48the lakaja family and friends can find it in the heart to forget him i understand no fully if they
20:53refuse to do so
20:54because forgiveness is the gift that i honestly do not deserve after taking everybody's statements
20:58into consideration the judge handed down josiah's sentence it's going to be the sentence of this court
21:04so you should be committed to mission department of corrections to first serve the two years
21:08on the felony firearm consecutive to that charge you will serve a minimum of 300 months to a maximum
21:14of 600 months in the mission department of corrections for the secondary murder josiah tyree pitman was
21:20sentenced to a minimum of 27 years and a maximum of 52 years in prison for some reason josiah couldn't
21:26help but smile and laugh to himself for the rest of the hearing a reaction that made his heartfelt apology
21:32feel much less sincere he was taken to the charles egler reception and guidance center where he currently resides
21:39his earliest release date is in the year 2051 while his maximum discharge date is in the year 2076
21:46things will never be the same for lakaja's family but although her death has caused them
21:51indescribable pain they continue to celebrate her life every day reminding others of the special person
21:57she was lakaja williams photo printed on a shirt her sister lemia foster wears her my baby
22:04shoot i'm gonna cry i'm sorry memories are all that's left of her little sister my favorite memory
22:12with her is when i showed her my birth video and she just started gagging like just gagging but she
22:19she came to the hospital with my baby she would not hold my baby because she's like it's too small
22:24it's too small it's like almost not believable you don't really believe it until you actually see
22:30the person and still it's just like it feel like she won't walk through the door anytime lemia foster
22:35says her sister loved basketball all things fashion and a good joke she was goofy goofy that's that's what
22:43you could describe her as she was she laughed at everything she was a happy person the happiest
22:48person i know she made even the darkest times good
23:08she's so happy to describe her and she was hoping to celebrate her daughter oh
23:11you
23:12i
23:14i
23:14i
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