While working Election Day in 2022, Sam Plo Kwia Collins Jr. drove alongside Aaron Marckell Williams to cover the evening results for the Washington Informer. As it became clear that Kenyan McDuffie would win his bid for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council, the duo rushed over to McDuffie’s victory party.

As soon as Collins Jr. parked his car, Williams “got to the front and took a very iconic photo” of McDuffie pointing at the crowd during his victory speech.

Over three years later, Collins Jr. saw the photo again on the Informer’s website and began thinking about his former colleague.

“Only to find out a couple of days later that he left us,” Collins Jr. told WTOP.

Williams, 26, was killed after being struck in a multivehicle crash following a high-speed chase in Northwest D.C. on Wednesday afternoon. A 20-year-old man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

To those who know him, Williams, a D.C. native, was known for his chill personality and love of photography. His Instagram page is filled with event coverage featuring hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams and former President Barack Obama.

The pair met after Williams returned to the District after graduating from the University of Miami.

His love of photography shined as they covered news events.

During downtime, Williams was very personable, Collins said, and willing to share about his background growing up in D.C. and attending a boarding school before going to Miami. While his laid-back approach may have confused some, he was not lazy, Collins said, calling his photos “quality work.”

“He just made it look very effortless, and that just spoke to his personality,” Collins said.

Williams recently chose to take a break from the Informer to focus on freelance work.

Washington Informer Managing Editor Micha Green told NBC Washington he was traveling multiple countries, including Ghana, to continue working as an “amazing visual storyteller.”

“We are heartbroken over the loss of Marckell Williams — a talented photographer, storyteller, and beautiful soul who was once part of the Washington Informer family,” the outlet wrote in a statement posted on X. “His passion for capturing people, culture, and truth will never be forgotten.”

The last time Collins recalls seeing his former coworker, Williams was taking photos at a go-go event on Marion Barry Avenue. Even though he was focused on his craft, Williams stopped for a moment to talk with his former reporting partner. The love shown at that moment, Collins said, spoke about the person Williams was.

“Being laid back in a city like this, where it gets more expensive and there’s just so much going on, that’s a feat in itself,” Collins said. “He had that spirit. He was just too good for us.”

AUSTIN, Texas – A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with murder for a deadly shooting at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Austin, police said.

What we know:

Police said on Monday, Jan. 5, around 6:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot at the Cambria Hotel at 68 East Avenue #824. The caller said a person had been shot.

When officers arrived, they found a man with injuries. He later died at the scene. He was identified as Luke Bradburn.

The investigation revealed that Bradburn drove and crashed a car that belonged to 20-year-old Maximillian Salinas. After the crash, Bradburn and the other people in the car left and went to the Cambria Hotel. 

Salinas went to the hotel and shot Bradburn.

On Jan. 6, Salinas was arrested and charged with murder.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Austin Police at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

Named after a famous 1940s Bullock County moonshiner who eventually served an 18-month federal prison sentence at Maxwell Air Force Base for producing illegal liquor, the Clyde May’s whiskey company was founded in Union Springs in 2001 by the bootlegger’s son, Kenny May.

Though the whiskey it produced was actually distilled in Kentucky, it was supposedly made using Conecuh Ridge spring water that was trucked there from Alabama.

In 2004, the Democrat-controlled Legislature approved a resolution naming the company’s “Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey” as the “Official State Spirit” of Alabama.

Gov. Bob Riley, a teetotaler who did not think the state should have an “official whiskey,” vetoed the resolution, but Democrat lawmakers quickly overrode his veto and allowed the resolution to take effect.

Shortly thereafter, in December of 2004, state liquor agents arrested Kenny May for selling liquor without a license, possessing excessive quantities of liquor in a dry county, and selling alcohol to a minor. He pled guilty to the charges.

Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board immediately moved to revoke Conecuh Ridge’s distribution license, meaning that once stores sold out of their existing stock, the state’s official spirit could no longer be sold in Alabama.

May’s stock was held in trust pending the outcome of his trial. Attorney Alva Lambert assumed interim leadership of the company.

After May entered his guilty plea, the Alabama House of Representatives moved to repeal the declaration of Conecuh Ridge as Alabama’s “Official State Spirit,” but the reversal legislation never passed the Alabama Senate. It remains the “Official State Spirit” today.
Kenny May passed away in 2016.

Owned and operated by a company based in New York today, Clyde May’s whiskey and bourbon is sold nationwide.
It’s flagship bottle is marketed as “Alabama-style” whiskey, and dried apples are added to the liquor as it ages in barrels, which imparts an apple/cinnamon flavor to the finished product.

Some like it, and some hate it, but all can agree the whiskey carries a fascinating political pedigree.

This story originally appeared in The Art of Alabama Politics, an outlet dedicated to the the wild, weird, and wonderful history of Alabama politics.