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The Case of Octavius Williams
📻 Episode #326
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jan 19, 2023
About This Episode
In 2011, 17 year old Octavius Williams was at a Halloween party hosted by his father and his father’s girlfriend in Cleveland, OH. Toward the end of the party a fight broke out in the backyard of the apartment building and Cole was shot. Cole survived, but suffered lower-body paralysis. Several witnesses said that Octavius’…
Case status as carried in this site's original 2026 profiles. Independent record verification is rolling out episode by episode — statuses are being re-checked against court and registry sources and date-stamped as verified.
The Case
In 2011, 17 year old Octavius Williams was at a Halloween party hosted by his father and his father’s girlfriend in Cleveland, OH. Toward the end of the party a fight broke out in the backyard of the apartment building and Cole was shot. Cole survived, but suffered lower-body paralysis. Several witnesses said that Octavius’ brother Ricky was the shooter. But Cole identified Octavius as the person who shot him. Despite Cole’s account being the only one naming Octavius, Octavius was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
tayda.williams@icloud.com
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:03:51“Speaker 3: Margaret Island is on Chester. They gave me a shot Speaker 3: to be on their team, and I took it. Didn't Speaker 3: though I was at good, you know, but you know, Speaker 3: just enough to be scouted, you know when and out Speaker 3: of nowhere, it just taken away, you know.”
00:15:49“Speaker 1: your brother came forward and actually confessed to shooting mister Cale. Speaker 1: Even made a written statement where he said and I quote. Speaker 1: Shortly after the party ended, an argument occurred outside the Speaker 1: apartment complex between my father, Ardent Terry, and Larry Johnson.”
00:27:04“Speaker 4: But when we're talking about using it to exonerate Octavius, Speaker 4: it's not good enough. Speaker 1: Of course, it's an infamous double standard that we see Speaker 1: over and over again all through our criminal legal system. Speaker 1: So where are we at in that fight? He's free,”
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← #325 Johnetta Carr #327 Hope White →
Also on the podcast: #153 Willie "Pete" Williams · #290 Carl Williams · #310 Herman Williams