Thanks to Snapchat and a high school basketball schedule, a Chicago-area teen named Martell Williams has proved his innocence in the face of attempted murder and aggravated battery charges.

Earlier last month, the freshman was accused of being involved in a robbery which resulted in a store clerk being shot in the face, and he was arrested during class at Waukegan High School. He was specifically taken into custody because detectives supposedly believed he bore a resemblance to the perpetrator, as the incident was caught on surveillance footage and various people allegedly identified Williams as the shooter.

“I was in school in freshman seminar class, and the dean came down and got me and walked me to the office,” Williams recalled. “And once I reached the office, there were just two police officers there. As soon as I got in, they didn’t tell me nothing or say anything. They just said I was under arrest.”

While in custody, Williams was ultimately coerced into giving a false confession under the premise of getting to receive McDonald’s and return home in exchange for an admission of guilt.

“It is true he bribed me with McDonald’s, and he kept trying to get a confession,” Williams said during a recent press conference.

Williams ultimately spent two days in juvenile detention over the matter, though his friends and family were able to prove him innocent using a Snapchat screenshot. The photo specifically revealed that Williams could not have committed the crime because he was at a high school basketball game about 17 miles away during the robbery. This was further corroborated by the 2021-2022 Waukegan High School basketball schedule.

After the incident, Williams, his mother, and attorney Kevin O’Connor reviewed the interrogation footage—and they were horrified by the officer’s blatant abuse of power.

“It was horrible to watch. You hear him say ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He’s scared, he’s shaking, he’s cold, he’s nervous. His mom was so disturbed she had to leave the room,” the lawyer recalled.

“[The cop] starts saying ‘Well what about a gun?’ [Williams] says ‘Man, I don’t know anything about any guns.’ And then [the cop] goes ‘No, we know you had a gun. It’s not your fault.’ Just putting words in his mouth,” O’Connor added.

Attorney Eric Rinehart also noted that the interrogating officer appeared to have been in violation of a state statute that prevents cops from “knowingly using deception” to obtain confessions from minors. Resultingly, the police chief apologized over the matter and said that the Waukegan Police Department “must do better.”

“Martell Williams did not commit this crime, nor was he involved in this crime in any fashion, and he should not have been brought to the juvenile detention facility. Martell should not have remained in that detention facility for a day and a half. The Waukegan Police Department apologizes for the pain and disruption our actions have caused Mr. Williams, his family, and the community,” stated Chief Kevin Zupec.

“My heartfelt apology goes out to this young man and his family. I will make it my purpose to not allow this organization to let him, his family, or Waukegan down again,” he added.

Mayor Ann B. Taylor also addressed the troubling matter.

“As Mayor of Waukegan, as a mother, and as a lifelong Waukeganite, I am very saddened and disappointed with how the Martell Williams case unfolded in our city. I only can imagine the pain and anguish this situation has caused Martell, his mother, and the Williams family,” Taylor said. “While Martell has been cleared of all charges, I firmly believe that we as a city must do a better job when dealing with juveniles when they interact with our police department.”

Williams’ family and Attorney O’Connor are considering filing a lawsuit against the police department, though they note that what they truly want is meaningful change so similar instances don’t occur.

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