ST. LOUIS – This morning, Eric Jordan Williams, 21, who fatally shot 20-year-old Joyce Freeman in the 3900 block of Minnesota Avenue on November 23, 2020, was sentenced to life without parole plus 45 years in prison.
Freeman and her boyfriend were preparing to take her four-day-old son to a doctor’s appointment when Williams began firing shots at their car from his Nissan Sentra. Freeman and her boyfriend attempted to get away, but Williams reappeared on Broadway accompanied by two people hanging out of the passenger side window firing shots at Freeman’s car.
After being critically injured, Freeman began to pass out and lose her eyesight while her boyfriend took control of the wheel and pulled into a parking lot to alert police. Freeman died shortly later at a local hospital. Her boyfriend and son were not injured in the shooting.
In October 2024, a jury found Williams guilty of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and multiple gun charges for possession of a weapon in direct relation to the shooting. Williams had been tried previously in April of 2024, but the jury could not reach a sentencing verdict. Williams was 17 at the time of the shooting.