NOT HANGING AROUND

Suspect Freed From Jail Over Coronavirus Fears Allegedly Killed a Man the Very Next Day

Joseph Edward Williams was freed on March 19. On March 20, he allegedly was involved in a fatal shooting.

A Florida man who was released from jail over fears that the novel coronavirus could overwhelm corrections facilities allegedly killed a man the very next day, authorities say. Joseph Edward Williams, 26, of Tampa, was arrested Monday and is facing charges of second-degree murder, gun possession, violently resisting an officer, drug possession, and paraphernalia possession, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday. Williams was freed last month, six days after being arrested on suspicion of heroin possession, a third-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor, according to jail records. The following day, a man was fatally shot in a community called Progress Village, sheriff’s officials said. “There is no question Joseph Williams took advantage of this health emergency to commit crimes while he was out of jail awaiting resolution of a low-level, non-violent offense,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.