Williams’ breakout role came in 2002 when he starred in HBO’s The Wire as Omar Little, a criminal who roamed Baltimore, according to People.

However, the actor grappled with drug addiction since his teen years in the Vanderveer Projects of Brooklyn’s East Flatbush neighborhood.

During the Red Table Talk conversation, Duponte recalled the day he found Williams, 54, dead in his apartment of an apparent drug overdose in Sept. 2021, according to USA Today.

Duponte was out shopping with his wife, and had reached out to his uncle the night before but didn’t receive a response, which caused him to become “concerned.” 

“We made the decision to go to his house and I went upstairs, opened up his door and it was quiet — Michael always played music — that wasn’t the case,” he said during the show.

Dupont said he remembers walking through the doorway and calling out for Williams and finding his body.

“I immediately called 911,” he continued, adding that the dispatcher asked if he wanted to “start some compressions,” which Dupont explained would be futile.  

“I’m telling you, he’s deceased. He’s gone,” Dupont said to the 911 operator, recalling how his uncle was cold to the touch.  

“Mike was doing well,” Dupont added. “He was working on a book. It did not appear to me that Mike was sliding back into addiction.”

However, Dupont noted that Williams was an actor and was capable of persuading others that he was managing his life well.

“He was an actor,” Dupont said. “You can fool people. You can convince people that you’re okay.”

The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that Williams died accidentally from “acute intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine,” according to People. 

Irvin Cartagena, 39,  was charged with the death of Williams, the U.S. attorney’s office said, according to The New York Times. Cartagena and three other men, Hector Robles, 57, Luis Cruz, 56, and Carlos Macci, 70, were also charged with one count of narcotics conspiracy.

In 2017, Williams spoke with The New York Times about his addiction.

“Addiction doesn’t go away,” he said, according to the Times. “It’s an everyday struggle for me, but I’m fighting.”

Based on a recent analysis from the CDC, fentanyl is one of the leading causes of death among Americans between the ages of 18 to 45. In the past two years, deaths from fentanyl have surpassed COVID-19-related deaths for the same age demographic, according to USA Today. 

A new episode of Red Table Talk dropped Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET on Facebook Watch and is available now.