When Michael Jackson died in 2009, Johnnie Jones said his younger brother Marqui Williams “cried like a baby.”“He’s been doing Michael Jackson impressions since he was 8,” Jones, 22, said Friday. “He’s a really good dancer. I taught us both how to dance.”
Videos on Facebook show Williams dressed in all white, save for a gold sequin vest and a white hat with blue lights, moon walking across the floor at a party and dancing energetically.
“It’s amazing,” yells a woman in the video.
Williams, 17, of the Austin neighborhood, was shot and killed Tuesday. He was standing on the sidewalk in the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard about 10:10 p.m. when an unknown man began shooting at him, police said.
“I was just dancing in the mirror and then my mom came out the room and was yelling and I was like, ‘Mom, what’s wrong?’” Jones said. “She was yelling, ‘They shot my baby, they shot my baby, they shot my baby.’ So I ran out of the house with no shoes and no shirt.”
On their way to the hospital, Jones said he was “mainly praying.” He had made a video on Facebook earlier that week talking about how the community needed rebuilding.
“I’m really big on God,” Jones said. “I was just praying.”
Jones said Williams was a good father of two kids, a fan of Drake and had wanted to be an architect after his hoped-for graduation from Bridgescape Lawndale alternative high school. Jones said he had a “real conversation” with Williams earlier that day about pursuing his dreams.
“I told him ‘I want you to fight for that,’” Jones said. “He wanted to be an architect since he was 7. He was really big on Legos and building and building things.”
He was also the main cook in the house, making everything from chicken, to tacos, to pancakes, to a special rice dish he would make for the family.
“He was a very outgoing person, a really nice guy,” Jones said.
Jones said he wants to start a group for young men and women to encourage them to become entrepreneurs, keep them off the streets and rebuild their community. He also plans on helping take care of William’s two children.
“I’m going to continue to do that for my little brother,” Jones said.
