Mother asks officials to take another look one year after son’s ‘justifiable’ homicide

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - On the day Lawreese Williams would have turned 33, his mother was marching outside the Greenville County Courthouse.

Instead of singing happy birthday, LaCosha Williams chanted, “Justice for Reese.”

“Here I am on my son’s 33rd birthday, still praying,” LaCosha said. “[I’m] praying for justice because it’s just not adding up.”

On March 7, 2022, Lawreese was shot and killed outside a Greenville County home. The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office determined the homicide was justifiable.

LaCosha disagrees.

South Carolina’s stand-your-ground law says if a person thinks they are in imminent danger they have the right to protect themselves.

“I’m not against stand your ground,” LaCosha said. “What I’m against is stand your ground being misused and abused.”

FOX Carolina read through the 80-page incident report, which says Lawreese pulled up to a house on Pine Creek Drive in the middle of the afternoon last March.

And according to interviews compiled through the investigation, Lawreese was there asking a man who lived at the home for money he was owed.

That man came out on the front porch and eventually shot Lawreese three times, pausing between the second and third shots.

In an interview, the shooter told investigators he felt threatened, but said “I can’t necessarily say he had a gun cause I don’t know for sure.”

The report said no weapon was found on Lawreese.

“I just feel like somebody somewhere did not think my son was worth it and he was definitely worth it,” LaCosha said, who has now created a scholarship in her son’s name. “Every life is worth it. Lawreese Williams’ life was worth it.”

We reached out to the solicitor’s office to see if they would take another look at the case.

They told us “criminal charges cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” but added if new evidence was uncovered they would “do so without hesitation.”

Right now our investigative team is taking an in-depth look at the stand-your-ground law to see how it is applied and if there are other moms out there like LaCosha.

We’ve requested cases information from every solicitor’s office in the state, but so far only one has been able to comply with our request.

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