HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — New details were revealed in a courtroom during a sentencing hearing for the suspect convicted in the 2021 murder 13-year-old Lucia Bremer.
Dylan Williams, 16, has been sentenced to 60 years for the shooting death of Lucia Bremer and attempted murder of her friend. Williams was 14 years old at the time of the shooting.
He took the stand Friday and apologized for his actions.
“What I did was wrong. I would take my own life to bring her back,” he said.
Dr. Salmaan Khawhaa performed a neuropsychological assessment on Williams on Oct. 9, 2022.
According to Khawhaa, he spent eight hours with him that day. Dr. Khawhaa said Williams was having “homicidal ideations.” Dr. Khawhaa said Williams had the desire to kill someone for about a year and researched it. The day of the shooting Williams took a loaded handgun from his home and walked over to the high school. He stood by a fenced and watched people for about an hour.
He wanted to kill someone and saw Bremer and Tyson playing on the soccer field. According to Dr. Khawhaa, during the evaluation Williams told him, ‘he felt good’ after he shot and killed someone. Williams allegedly went home, put the gun back and played video games.
Detectives came to question him the same day but then left. Williams would ultimately get arrested the next day.
According to Khawhaa and an employee at the Henrico Juvenile Detention Home where Williams was being held, Williams tried to escape in 2022. Williams allegedly saw that a gate was left unlocked. While attempting to run, he threw a manhole cover at a window and broke it.
Williams’ loss of his mother to asthma and the fact that his father was stabbed to death, was brought up regarding the topic of past traumas.
Dr. Khawhaa gave Williams a diagnosis of Severe Conduct Disorder.
Bremer was an 8th grade student at Quioccasin Middle School.
The courtroom was crowded, with several community members and loved ones were wearing green. Others wore green shirts with soccer balls on angel wings on them. The shirts included the initials “LWB.”
Lucia Bremer, 13, and her best friend and neighbor Harper Tyson, were walking home from Mills. E Godwin High School to the Gayton Forest West neighborhood on March 26, 2021. Tyson was 11 years old at the time of the shooting. The two girls were playing soccer and coaching their young neighbor. Prosecutors said Williams followed the girls home to Tyson’s garage, where he tried to shoot Tyson, but ultimately shot Bremer several times. Tyson was able to get away.
Shannon Taylor is the Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney. Taylor told 8news, 75 victim impact statements were submitted. The judge said the court read each one.
A few family members of both Bremer and Tyson chose to read their statements in the courtroom. Many of them tried to hold back tears.
Jamie Tyson is Harper’s father. According to Tyson, on the day of the shooting his daughter came running into their house from the garage and he was upstairs working. Tyson said his daughter was frantic and said, ‘he has a gun.’ Tyson said Harper told him that Lucia was still out there, so he went to go find her.
Tyson said he saw her lying on the ground, but she was unresponsive. He and the neighbors started administering CPR before the ambulance came.
The Bremer family lived in the neighborhood. According to Bremer’s family, Bremer’s father called his wife to tell her that Bremer had been shot. Bremer’s mother ran to the Tyson’s garage and saw her daughter lying there. She said that she kneeled by her daughter, held her hair and spoke to her. At this time, neighbors believed the shooter was at large and many of them were frightened.
Leigh Dunavant is the Principal at Mills E. Godwin High School. According to Dunavant, at least 300 people that were inside the school and around campus were told to shelter in place when they heard that shots had been fired near the school.
Tyson drove Bremer’s two brothers to the hospital to meet the rest of the family, where the Bremer’s would find out that their daughter did not make it.
After the tragedy loved ones have described Bremer as curious, fun and smart. Her father said she would help run a stand at a farmer’s market every weekend. Family members of both Tyson and Bremer said the two girls were ‘inseparable.’ They did many activities together, including playing soccer and surfing.
Harper Tyson also took the stand.
“Losing your best friend is the worst thing that could happen to you,” Tyson said.
According to Jonathan Bremer, Lucia’s father, they’ve created a scholarship in her memory. They also bought a dog after her death and named it after the god of light Apollo. Family members said Lucia’s name means light.
Taylor told 8news, in her more than two decades in the criminal justice system, she has never seen this many submitted victim impact statements.
Russ Stone and Kevin Purnell represent Williams. Stone and Purnell told 8news, it was ‘just tragic.’ However, the defense attorneys said that it’s unclear whether Williams would have been able to redeem himself, as the crime was committed at a young age.
A review hearing will take place in April of 2024.
