New York

4 Arrested in Stray Bullet Shooting Death of Woman Waiting at Staten Island Bus Stop: NYPD

Fran Williams was shot in the face, then died after spending a month in a coma

Police say they've arrested four people in the stray bullet death of a woman waiting for a bus on Staten Island last summer. 

The NYPD says Sean Oliveras, 23; Isaiah Kelson, 22; and Jaleel Hewitt, 27, all of Staten Island, were each arrested early Tuesday on murder and weapons charges in the death of 67-year-old Fran Williams. A fourth man, 22-year-old Marquise Ancrum, also of Staten Island, was arrested on a charge of criminal facilitation.

A woman was standing waiting for a bus Tuesday when she was shot in the face. Erica Byfield reports.

Williams was waiting for the bus on July 10 when she was hit in the face with a stray bullet. She was in a coma for a month before she ultimately died. 

Police said Williams was caught in the crossfire of a violent crime spree that day. Two gangs were brawling near the Richmound County Supreme Court house in St. George, and one of the men crashed a stolen van into a nearby bed-and-breakfast, pinning and killing Robert Craigwell.

An hour later, Williams was shot in the head at a bus stop nearby. 

"The suspects were shooting at another male who ran down the street, and we believe at this time she was the unintended target," NYPD Inspector Mark DiPaolo said while announcing the arrests Tuesday. 

An alleged gunman is dead after a brawl outside a courthouse on Staten Island spilled outside and ended with members of a rival crew using a minivan to ram him into the side of a bed and breakfast, according to law enforcement official. Roseanne Colletti reports.

Williams' niece, Priscilla Lewis, told News 4 at the time that Williams was on her way to visit Lewis and her children when she was shot: "I came downstairs, and my aunt was outside on the floor, and all I could do was talk to her and wait for an ambulance to come." 

"I was telling her she'll be OK, she'll be all right: 'You'll be all right, they're coming," said Lewis. 

Investigators won't say whether the four men arrested in Williams' death are the same involved in the courthouse brawl. Williams' family is still mourning her loss.

"This is not a wake up call for my family, it's a wake-up call for me, said great-niece Vanessa Williams. "We gotta be out of here. It's not right. It's not fair at all." 

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