A California man was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder and other charges for the 2018 shooting death of a 27-year-old Jamaica father.
Charles Williams, 35, was arraigned Wednesday, June 30, before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth C. Holder on a four-count indictment charging him with the murder of Darryl Whitfield, in a Jackson Heights parking lot, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
According to the charges, on September 30, 2018, Williams was observed on video surveillance bowling with the victim at Whitestone Lanes. The two men left the bowling alley together around 4 a.m. in a gray BMW.
Surveillance cameras tracked the BMW to a local gas station and later to an AutoZone parking lot at 95-01 Northern Blvd. where Whitfield’s dead body was later found, with a single gunshot to his head, by an employee.
According to Katz, Williams allegedly hid the revolver used in the homicide inside the garage of a Queens residence which was recovered the following day with a single round missing. DNA testing of the firearm was matched to the defendant.
NYPD detectives arrested Williams in Sacramento, California, on March 26, and he was extradited back to Queens on Friday, June 25.
“What began as a night of bowling turned into a deadly crime after the defendant allegedly murdered the victim and abandoned the body in a parking lot,” Katz said. “The defendant traveled thousands of miles to elude capture but is now in custody facing justice for his alleged crime.”
Justice Holder remanded Williams and ordered him to return to court on August 2. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
