GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man accused of shooting and killing a teenager in downtown Grand Rapids is in custody and faces a murder charge.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom and Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker hosted a joint news conference Monday afternoon announcing the arrest of 18-year-old Josiah Pittman for Lakyijah Williams's death.
Lakyijah Williams, 15, was shot and killed on May 18 on Ottawa Avenue near Studio Park while hanging out with her friends.
Multiple shots were fired and she was shot from a distance, authorities said, and it happened in an area where there were multiple witnesses.
She was riding her scooter when she was shot, police said.
"The 15-year-old girl, who was literally just riding her scooter in downtown Grand Rapids, was gunned down, and the family was devastated," GRPD Chief Winstrom said. "Absolutely heart-breaking, absolutely avoidable."
She wasn't the intended target, authorities said in Monday's update.
For months, detectives worked around the clock to get witnesses to come forward.
"We are not going to be a city that tolerates one of our children getting murdered, and not following through," Winstrom said.
Kent County Prosecutor Becker said they used the investigative subpoena process to get witnesses to talk about what they saw.
"This was not a random act of violence," Becker said. "Miss Williams was not the target...a tragic set of circumstances."
Pittman faces a second-degree murder, which carries up to life in prison with a conviction, as well as a firearms charge.
He's expected to be arraigned as soon as Monday afternoon.
You can watch the full news conference update here: