WALTHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A Waltham woman has been charged after prosecutors said she assaulted her girlfriend shortly before her girlfriend died in a shooting late last week.
The Middlesex County District Attorney’s office in a statement said officers first responded to a parking lot near an apartment building on Second Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on Friday. Once on scene, the DA’s office said, officers found 24-year-old Zharia Wilcox suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
Wilcox was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecutors detailed allegations against 30-year-old Melanie Williams in court Monday, saying surveillance video showed her and Wilcox exiting the apartment building where they lived. Williams and Wilcox were with a group of other people, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutors said video showed Williams hitting Wilcox in the head before the group crossed the street and stepped out of view of the security camera.
Williams was charged with assault and battery on a household or family member and was ordered held without bail pending a hearing later this month.
The DA’s office said the investigation into the shooting was still active as of Monday afternoon and asked anyone who saw anything unusual in the area of Second Avenue Friday night to call investigators at 781-314-3550.
Wilcox’s family was in court for Williams’ arraignment. Her sister later spoke to reporters, saying Zharia and Williams had been in a relationship for 5-6 months.
“My sister was loved,” said Shyri Wilcox. “She was a good person. She was very good at basketball. She was very good at being there for everybody. She was just a very soulful person.”
“[I]t’s just sad that this had to happen, but we’re going to get justice,” Shyri Wilcox said. “It’s going to be what it’s going to be. She’s going to go to jail and it is what it is.”
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