AUGUSTA (WJBF) — The family of 23-year-old Julian Williams says their son, a Laney High School graduate, was liked by everyone he came in contact with.
“He’s a little, teeny guy. He weighed about 105 pounds. But he didn’t have a little man syndrome. He was a good guy. Everybody that knew him said, man, he’s a good guy. Why would somebody do something like that him? Everybody loved him,” Julian’s father Markeith Williams said.
Julian’s remains were found buried behind this abandoned trailer off a dirt road in the Beech Island area.
Investigators say in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 26th, Julian left his Broad Street apartment in a cab to meet with a woman he had been dating.
The problem is, investigators believe that night, the woman wasn’t the one texting Julian.
“Just texting back and forth and he thought he was talking with a girl, but he was actually talking with a guy. And somehow they got him to come out to Beech Island and that’s where they ambushed him, shot him, and through him in the woods,” Markeith Williams said.
Antonio Simpkins and Steven Jackson are accused of luring Julian to Aiken County, kidnapping him and then killing him.
The Williams family says one of the men was also in a relationship with the woman.
“We are glad they brought my boy home. That was the biggest thing, waiting. It’s been over a month now, he’s been missing and we are just glad that we can have some closure and bring him home,” Markeith Williams said.
This isn’t the first time the Williams family has been through tough times as Julian was shot in the heart back in 2011.
“They gave him a 20% chance to live and God seen a way to bring him back. Gave me five more years,” Markeith Williams said.
Now, the family is thanking investigators for solving the case and the community for the support.
“It shows the kind of person Julian was. Everybody loved him. He’s just a wasted life,” Markeith Williams said.
Julian’s funeral is scheduled for this Saturday at Hammond Grove Baptist Church at 2 p.m.
