INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County prosecutor announced Melvin Hall II has been charged with murder for the Aug. 28 shooting death of Naytasia Williams.
“The murder of Naytasia Williams is tragic and deeply upsetting," prosecutor Ryan Mears said. “The prosecutor’s office intends to seek justice on behalf of Ms. Williams and her family.”
Mears shared with 13News that witness video played a serious role in his final decision to file the charge against Hall. But there are also other factors that were included in the decision.
"We also have the forensic evidence in terms of information from the autopsy of where she was hit," Mears said.
Mears applauds witnesses who came forward and so does IMPD Chief Randal Taylor. His detectives gathered statements from witnesses at the scene he said resulted in Hall being charged.
"They stayed and cooperated and when those things happen then we can get to the proper results," Chief Taylor said.
Witness 1
In court documents, a witness said Williams and another woman had been in a verbal argument. They heard Williams say she had a gun, and said “you lucky, I ain’t got no bullets” to the woman. Moments after that, the witness said Hall fired into the car without giving any warnings. When Williams got out of the car, Hall ordered her to put her hands up and she collapsed. The witness then heard Hall say, "She pulled out a gun, she pointed a gun at us.” That witness said they never saw Williams lift a gun or point it.
Witness 2
A witness in the car with Williams confirmed Williams had been in an argument with another woman. At one point Williams put her gun on the driver's seat and when she got back in, the witness said Williams moved the gun to her lap. The witness never heard Hall give any warning before opening fire. That witness also said that Williams never pointed the gun at anyone.
Security guard 1
One of the security guards told investigators that Williams was moving around right before the shots were fired by Hall. That guard said she never saw Williams raise her hands or wave her hands and she never saw Williams with a gun.
Security guard 2
A second security guard interviewed by police said that right before the shooting Hall said, "She’s got a gun, she’s pointing it a me." That guard said they never saw Williams with the gun. That guard did find a gun on the driver's seat.
Hall's claims
Detectives tried to interview Hall, but he refused.
Hall told 13News he shot and killed Williams in self-defense. Hall is now being represented by Indianapolis criminal defense attorney Marc Lopez.
Hall shared that Williams reportedly tried to run him and his employees over with her car. That statement conflicts with witness accounts and statements from his employees that said the car started rolling forward after Williams was shot.
This is not Hall's first shooting case looked at by prosecutors. Dash cam video from March 2020 shows Hall exit his car while patrolling a property near 37th and Meridian streets. The video shows an alleged trespasser pull a gun on Hall and Hall shooting back. Hall faced no charges in that case, and the trespass suspect survived the shooting.
The guards working for Hall have dash cams and in some cases body cams. Hall shared with 13News the shooting happened so fast, he didn't have time to manually activate his body cam.
Williams' family has set up a GoFundMe account to pay for her funeral.