Something made Myrtle Williams stay home from church Sunday morning.
The longtime San Bernardino resident spoke to her 49-year-old son, Marvin, every day -- but after dropping him off at his apartment last Friday night, she hadn't heard from him.
All of Saturday went by.
It was near 10 a.m. Sunday when police called. Marvin Lee Williams was found down on the floor of his Sepulveda Avenue apartment. By the time his mother arrived, she saw the ambulance idling.
"Passed?" Myrtle Williams recalls herself asking the officers.
Marvin Lee Williams had died from a gunshot wound to his head. His apartment was undisturbed except for an open screen door. Williams always left his screen door locked, his mother said.
San Bernardino police said that the shooting was not the result of a robbery. Family and detectives suspect someone he knew may be responsible.
No further details have been released and police have asked for the public's assistance.
When I visited Myrtle Williams Wednesday morning, she said she was bewildered by what happened. Calmly, she remembered her only son as a welcoming man with a sense of humor; a onetime painter who liked crossword puzzles.
"He had a kind heart," she said. "I can't see someone coming in there and sticking a gun to his head like they did."
Marvin Williams worked as a linesman for Edison for 15 years. He fell into drugs, but got rehabilitation and was now dealing with health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure, his mother said.
He had no charges against him in San Bernardino County, records show.
The victim had no children, and just one sister, Marcia. Myrtle Williams looked at her Wednesday and lamented.
"It's just the two of us now," she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Pete Higgins at 909-384-5624.
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