Man sentenced to 24 years in death of bystander after gunfight, crash in Minneapolis

One of the men charged in a gunfight and crash that killed a bystander in Minneapolis back in 2021 will be spending more than two decades behind bars.

Marvel Galvaston Williams, 35, pleaded guilty in May to both second-degree and third-degree murder and illegal gun possession in the death of 18-year-old Autumn Merrick.

Monday morning, Williams was sentenced to more than 24 years (291 months) for Merrick’s death. That’s a full seven years more than what prosecutors were even asking for. He also received credit for 516 days already served.

Merrick, 18, was killed while riding a scooter on the sidewalk near Fifth Street and Sixth Avenue North, just a block from Target Field, on Oct. 6, 2021, after two SUVs involved in a gunfight ended up crashing.

RELATED: 2 men charged in death of Autumn Merrick, bystander killed on scooter after gunfight, crash

Court documents state that Williams was the front seat passenger in one of those vehicles, a Range Rover. The driver of that vehicle, Christopher London Walker, is also charged with murder and is set to go on trial in May.

Criminal complaints state that, shortly after 11 p.m. that night, Metro Transit police heard gunfire near the intersection and saw a Range Rover speed by. A second later, they heard a loud crash and found that the Range Rover had crashed into a light pole and caught fire. A Dodge Durango had crashed into a building nearby.

As more officers arrived, they found Merrick, who’d been hit by the Durango and pushed into the building. She was declared dead at the scene.

Surveillance video showed the Range Rover had been chasing the Durango around the city prior to the crash, and multiple discarded bullet casings were found along Sixth Avenue.