Walter Williams said his son is dead because somebody wanted to get into a bar.
Darnell Williams, 35, was shot and killed early Sunday after an argument in his apartment. The elder Williams, who lives in an apartment building next door, said he was told someone wanted to borrow his son’s identification.
“Why did you kill my son over an ID?” Williams asked Sunday.
Denver police would only confirm that a man was shot near the intersection of East Colfax Avenue and Clermont Street about 12:10 a.m. He was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities are seeking a suspect in the shooting. Police say Dennis Peace, 31, has attempted to use other people’s identification in the past and is wanted on an unrelated charge of robbery and escape. Police consider him armed and dangerous.
He was last known to be driving a green or blue two-door vehicle with very dark tinted windows.
Williams was mourning the death of his son Sunday. He said a woman knocked on his door and told him Darnell had been shot. Williams ran next door and found his son lying on the floor in his apartment.
“He was funny,” Darnell Williams’ brother, Walter Williams Jr., said. “That dude had a sense of humor.”
Family members said that Williams had gone to prison for “little things,” but that he was a friendly person.
He passed time in prison by making intricate roses out of toilet paper.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show Williams was arrested on counts ranging from failure to appear on an uninsured motorist charge to felony assault.
Williams’ family and neighbors in his apartment building said there may be as many as three witnesses to the shooting.
Police would not confirm that.
Walter Williams Sr. said he is hopeful police will find his son’s killer.
“They better catch him before we do,” he said.
Also early Sunday, a person was shot and killed near the intersection of Broadway and 10th Avenue at 1:40 a.m. Police say there was an argument in the area before the shooting, but they would not reveal the name or sex of the victim. The victim was taken to Denver Health and pronounced dead.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 720-929-0893 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
