INDIANAPOLIS — Less than 24 hours after Naytasia Williams was shot and killed, close to 100 people gathered to remember her in an east side neighborhood.
“This is somebody I was with all the time. We did everything together,” said Liberty Carnell.
Carnell witnessed the last moments of her friend’s life.
Carnell said she was in the backseat of Williams' car as she drove out of the 42nd & Brentwood neighborhood, where they had been seeing a friend. That’s when Carnell says they drove past what appeared to be three security guards.
“I never seen these people out here," Carnell said. "I be out here all the time.”
Carnell said Williams didn’t notice them because she was talking to someone through the driver’s side window.
Carnell says Williams had a license to carry a gun and it was next to her in the front seat.
One of the security guards shined a light at the car, according to Carnell.
“He flashed the light and then shot three times,” Carnell remembered.
“He never said, ‘Get out, put your hands up, don’t touch nothing.’” Carnell told 13News. “He never said nothing to us. He just shot in the car.”
“She said ‘I’m hit.’ and got out,” said Carnell.
Carnell said she followed, getting out and lying on the ground, watching her friend struggle to breathe. Carnell said she wanted to crawl to Williams and give her CPR, but couldn't because she says guns were pointed at her, too.
“I’m laying there. I just watched a man murder my friend. I’m laying there, and I can’t help her,” said Carnell.
According to IMPD, investigators questioned Melvin Hall Jr. in Williams' death. It's not Hall’s first encounter with police.
Earlier this year, Hall Jr. was cleared in a March shooting at 37th and Meridian. While working a security job, Hall reportedly shot a man who was suspected of trespassing.
In 2015, Hall was charged with impersonating a police officer after investigators say he repeatedly identified himself as one to the public. Hall was cleared of all those charges on appeal, something Carnell said she can’t understand.
“How’s he allowed to do any of that if he just got in trouble for impersonating the police?” said Carnell.
On Saturday, City-County Councillor La Keisha Jackson released the following statement in regards to Williams' death: "Our community is devastated the death of Naytasia Williams, and we now begin the all-too-familiar process of mourning the loss of another beautiful young life taken by gun violence. I am praying today not only for Naytasia's loved ones but for my entire Eastside community, and I encourage anyone struggling with the loss of a loved one to violence to reach out for help. I will be monitoring the investigation into Naytasia's death closely to advocate for a transparent and just process."