Death by Cop 2021-2025
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J.R. Williams
Age : 30
Gender : Male
Race : Unknown
Date : 10/09/2021
Location : Not Disclosed
City : Not Disclosed
County : Washita
State : Oklahoma
Agency : Custer County Sheriff's Office; Washita County Sheriff's Office; Oklahoma Highway Patrol
Officer(s) :Eric Dominguez; additional officers
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Driver killed by police chase crash
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
REASON FOR CHASE: Mental health crisis.
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On 10/09/2021, 30-year-old J.R. Williams was critically injured when he crashed during a police chase involving law enforcement in Custer and Washita counties, Oklahoma. Williams was airlifted from the crash and died eight days later at an Oklahoma City hospital.
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Before the chase, Custer County Deputy Eric Dominguez had been told to watch for Williams, who was suicidal and had reportedly told family members that he wanted to die during a high-speed police chase. A Washita County deputy supplied location information as Williams's cellphone pinged nearby towers.
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Police pursued Williams and deployed stop sticks. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol report, Williams accelerated after striking the spikes. He then hit a guardrail and embankment and went airborne into a bridge abutment. During the chase, Williams called family members to say goodbye and apologize.
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Williams was airlifted alive from the crash scene and remained hospitalized for eight days before dying. A later Tulsa World/Lee Enterprises investigation found the case through raw autopsy data and reported that the death exposed a gap in Oklahoma crash reporting that can cause police-chase fatalities to disappear from pursuit statistics.
