Man convicted in July killing where shots were fired into a crowd on North Clinton Ave

Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
·2 min read

A state Supreme Court jury this week convicted a Rochester man in the 2022 shooting death of Willie Wofford.

Wofford was one of four people shot - but the lone person killed - when several people fired shots into a crowd in the lot outside the Trenton and Pamela Jackson R-Center on North Clinton Avenue on July 5, 2022. Rochester police said that an altercation near the basketball court escalated and multiple gunshots were fired within a crowd of more than 200 people.

Wofford was shot five times in the torso, and died from those injuries at Strong Memorial Hospital, according to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. The other three people shot during the incident - two men and a woman - were not seriously hurt, according to police.

Joshua Williams, now 29, was convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapons, all felonies, for Wofford's death, the DA's office confirmed.

After the deadly shooting, Williams fled to South Carolina. He was apprehended and charged a month later.

“The murder of Willie Wofford was senseless, violent, and completely unnecessary,” said Assistant District Attorney Aliyah Fowler, who prosecuted the case with ADA Emily Chisholm.

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“The early morning hours of July 5, 2022, were violent and chaotic,” District Attorney Sandra Doorley said in a news release. “Joshua Williams caused violence, confusion, and the death of Willie Wofford. He had no regard for the life of the victim and risked the lives of everyone around him."

A second man arrested in connection with the shooting later pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony. Quinjavis Lewis , now 32, was accused of also firing a gun into the crowd of several hundred partygoers.

Lewis is currently an inmate at the Elmira Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Chemung County. According to the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, he is serving 12 years to life in prison.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced by state Supreme Court Justice James Walsh on Dec. 8.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Joshua Williams convicted in killing of Willie Wofford in Rochester NY