Columbia man gets 27 years for killing unarmed man
June 25, 2025
Zachery Jamell Williams pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter on June 23 in connection with the 2020 shooting death of Wesley Colin Brown. The Honorable Jocelyn Newman sentenced Williams to 27 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
On Oct. 4, 2020, two witnesses discovered Brown’s body near a sidewalk on Senate Street during their morning walk. He had no wallet on him, but Columbia Police Department (CPD) officers identified him as a guest at a nearby downtown hotel.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing a silver Nissan Maxima parking on the north side of Senate Street as Brown appeared nearby. A resident in the area reported hearing gunshots around the time of the incident, and security footage captured the Nissan leaving the scene shortly afterward.
Law enforcement tracked the vehicle through surveillance and identified the license plate, which was linked to a man later identified as a co-defendant.
The following day, officers located the Nissan Maxima in the parking lot of a local Food Lion. The co-defendant, wearing his work uniform, was seen returning to the car when approached by police.
After agreeing to go to CPD Headquarters for an interview, the co-defendant admitted to being on Senate Street at the time of the shooting, stating he had a passenger in the vehicle. He told investigators that while he was stopped and using his phone, the passenger, who he later identified as Williams, got out of the vehicle and shot the victim.
Further investigation uncovered surveillance footage that showed Williams and the co-defendant walking to and from the Nissan Maxima in Five Points shortly before the shooting. Additionally, forensic analysis of evidence collected at the crime scene was later linked to evidence collected at Williams’ home.
After initially fleeing to Florida, Williams returned to South Carolina and turned himself in.
CPD Investigators Justin Seay, Matt McCoy, and Nicolas Fortner led the investigation. The Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, represented by Circuit Deputy Solicitor Dan Goldberg and Assistant Solicitor Paul Walton, prosecuted the case.