CINCINNATI — Wayne Barron said his 25-year-old girlfriend, Dorian Williams, was walking to their car just steps ahead of him when gunfire erupted, hitting and killing her.
"I was walking across the parking lot with her, but I stopped to light a cigarette and she kept walking toward the car. That's how she got caught in the crossfire," said Barron. "'Cause she was walking toward the car. The car was parked across the street."
The pair were leaving the Save Way supermarket on John St. Monday night when Williams was fatally shot. Two other men were wounded in the shooting, one critically. Police have not given an update on the condition of the men.
Barron said his girlfriend of five years was a mother, and everything to him.
"She was well-loved," he said. "They took somebody special, man. She would have did anything for anybody."
Williams' family gathered Tuesday evening to pray and mourn her loss. Her father, Curtis Williams, said his daughter was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"All this vengeance and all this killing," he said. "My daughter was an innocent bystander. She was a beautiful person. And she's gone because of gun violence."
Williams' death is the second fatality from a shooting in the West End this year and the 69th homicide in Cincinnati. By Tuesday, another shooting in Evanston brought the number of homicides up to 70. In 2020, Cincinnati's deadliest year in recent history, there were 82 homicides throughout the year.
Matt Hammer, captain of Cincinnati Police District 1, said to solve Williams' murder and others the police need more help from the public.
"In regards to the uptick in violence in the West End, we continue to seek help from the public," wrote Hammer in a statement. "We need folks to come forward with any information you may have."
Police declined to provide an interview about the shooting pending the ongoing investigation. CPD said anyone with information on Williams' murder or any other unsolved homicides in Cincinnati should call Crimestoppers at 513.352.3040.
Police said surveillance cameras on both sides of the street near the shooting could provide more insight into who was responsible for the shooting, but so far they have not released any information on a possible suspect.
