18-year-old held in Palo Verde shooting arrested months earlier with gun in car

Six months before Ezekiel Williams and Gerald Q. Davison were arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a Palo Verde freshman, North Las Vegas police arrested Williams for having a gun in his car.

The information was revealed in a court document filed Wednesday in Las Vegas Justice Court. In the document, prosecutors argue against releasing Williams on bail or house arrest. Among other things, they cite his previous arrest record.

Williams, 18, is behind bars at the county jail on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, among other charges. He is accused of driving the vehicle used in the Feb. 15 fatal drive-by shooting of 15-year-old Christopher Privett.

Davison, 16, also is being held at the county jail on murder charges. Authorities accuse him of firing the round that killed Privett.

Williams' attorney, Brent Bryson, is scheduled to appear in court today to argue that his client should be released from jail.

According to a 2007 arrest report, North Las Vegas police were patrolling near Cheyenne High School around midnight Aug. 12 when they spotted about a dozen vehicles parked in the street. Several people were standing nearby.

The people fled when they saw the police.

A North Las Vegas police officer, Pamela Ojeda, saw a 2000 Pontiac pull around all the cars on the wrong side of the road.

She stopped the car and saw four teens inside, including Williams, who was driving, and Davison, who was in the back seat.

Ojeda described the teens as looking nervous. She asked Williams whether any drugs or weapons were inside the Pontiac. He replied that he didn't know, the report states.

Another officer saw an empty gun holster under the front seat and a .45-caliber Glock pistol in the trunk of the car, the report states.

Police put Williams, Davison and two other juveniles in handcuffs after they found the gun.

Police also found a half-empty bottle of Mad Dog 20/20, a fortified wine, in the car.

The teens at first denied knowing anything about the gun. Williams later changed his story, telling officers it was his cousin's handgun, the report states.

Police arrested Williams and charged him with possessing a deadly or dangerous weapon inside his car and for an open container. Both offenses are misdemeanors.

Davison and the two other juveniles were released into a parent's care.

Prosecutors also say Williams is a danger to the public, because he fired at a group of people in the early morning hours before the Palo Verde shooting.

According to the newly released court documents, Williams and several other teens went bowling at Texas Station, near Rancho Drive and Carey Avenue, on Feb. 14.

A friend of Williams, Arthur Moore, told police Williams carried around a .22-caliber handgun at the bowling alley "for protection reasons or just in case," according to a witness statement.

The .22-caliber handgun was later used in the Palo Verde shooting, police said.

When the group was leaving Texas Station around 12:30 a.m., six men approach them, Moore told police.

Fearing the men would attack them, Williams fired at them as they were walking to their car, Moore told police. He didn't believe anyone was hit by the gunfire.

Moore said Williams then reloaded the gun.

Police dispatch records don't indicate that officers responded to any gunshots.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.