Inset left: Dioblis Williams (Framingham Police Department). Inset right: Ja”Mir Jones (Ohio Attorney General’s Office). Background: Body camera footage shows Dioblis Williams being questioned by law enforcement after Ja’Mir Jones is found dead (Columbus Division of Police/WSYX/YouTube).
A man on the run from authorities was spotted wearing a disguise about 750 miles away from where he was wanted for murder, law enforcement said.
Dioblis Williams, 25, has been charged with murder, Franklin County, Ohio, court records show. The case stretches back more than five years, when 2-year-old Ja’Mir Jones was found dead in a Columbus, Ohio, bathtub.
On March 25, 2020, officers with the Columbus Division of Police responded to a home due to a report of a child drowning in a bathtub. When officers got there, Ja’Mir was not breathing, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. He was pronounced dead after being transported to a children’s hospital, and the case was promptly ruled a homicide.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
Body camera footage obtained by local ABC affiliate WSYX showed Williams speaking with responding officers, reportedly telling them the boy had drowned in the tub. But authorities were skeptical.
An autopsy found that Ja’Mir did not drown; rather, his death was ruled to have been a result of blunt force trauma to the abdomen. He is said to have had bruises on his face, torso, and neck, but his lungs were unobstructed.
An affidavit reviewed by the outlet stated that after Ja’Mir had an accident in his diaper, Williams — who was reportedly the boyfriend of Ja’Mir’s mother and serving as the boy’s babysitter that day — allegedly repeatedly hit the child, causing his death.
Fast forward more than five years and shift roughly 750 miles east — where the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) announced a warrant for the arrest of Williams after he was believed to be in the city of Framingham, Massachusetts.
On Aug. 27, at about 8:30 a.m., a K-9 officer with the Framingham Police Department was walking to a briefing when he “noticed a pair of individuals walking on the sidewalk, one of whom appeared to be wearing a wig,” the agency said.
Officers kept looking at the person and “came to the determination that the individual wearing the wig was indeed the male that the USMS and [Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section] were intending to arrest,” the police department said.
“Today’s arrest is a reminder that you can run, but you can’t hide,” acting U.S. Marshal Kevin W. Neal said following the arrest. “Mr. Williams thought that he could evade arrest and accountability by hiding in Massachusetts. I hope that today’s arrest brings us one step closer to justice for a young child whose life ended tragically.”
Video from WSYX showed a man said to be Williams sprinting from a cop, tripping, throwing something believed to be the wig off of his head, and then surrender to the officer. He had been formally charged with murder the week before.
The Framingham Police Department showed a picture of the suspect’s disguise, complete with a long reddish-blonde wig, black sunglasses, and what appears to be a big hair tie.
The disguise Dioblis Williams was allegedly wearing when law enforcement arrested him (Framingham Police Department).
“Hallelujah, thank the lord,” Ja’Mir’s great-grandmother told the Columbus TV station. “I’ve been praying for this for five years. Five long years. Since 2020, I’ve been praying for his capture because I knew that he did it.”
Williams was brought back to Ohio and arraigned on Friday on the murder charge. He has a preliminary hearing set for Sept. 19.
