Lawrence Hunt, 20, told police that he shot Williams because the teacher was attempting to sexually assault him and because he believed that Williams had HIV.
Williams was not open about his sexuality at school, and if he did have HIV -- his autopsy report does not address the issue, although HIV medication was found in his bedroom -- it's unclear who knew about his status.
But perhaps Williams had some inkling about his own mortality. The day Williams was
killed, the mother of one of his students contacted Albert Lopez, a Palm Beach County school police officer, and asked him to speak to her
son about the death. Lopez obliged.
Later, the 12-year-old student, Edgar
Munoz, made a strange comment to his mother. It was disturbing enough
that Lopez interviewed Edgar and wrote an official report.
Two days before Williams died, Edgar was in Williams' fifth-period class. And he remembered the teacher saying something ominous. "I may not be here on Friday; I may be in God's hands," he said.
Lopez wrote down Edgar's statement, then closed the case, since Riviera Beach police officers were already investigating the death. Hunt was arrested and charged with second-degree murder two weeks later.
