Former Maryland, Miami football player Avantae Williams arrested on murder charge

Former Maryland and Miami football player Avantae Williams was reportedly arrested in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred over the weekend. It reportedly took place in East Central Florida.

According to a report from Local 10, Williams was involved in a shooting at McCabe’s Bar. He faces a second-degree murder charge per the DeLand Police Department.

“At this time, this remains an open and active investigation,” the police department posted on social media. “Detectives still continue to collect evidence and conduct interviews with people concerning the facts and circumstances of this shooting incident. Approximately 40 patrons were inside McCabe’s Bar on the night of the incident and they may have information that will help bring justice in this case.”

According to police, deputies responded to the scene at roughly 1:30 a.m. ET Saturday. Witnesses said that a fistfight broke out between several men inside the bar and one man pulled out a gun and began shooting. Williams is allegedly involved.

“The victim, identified as 32-year-old Keshod Harris of DeLand, was struck multiple times in the chest,” DeLand police said. “He was transported to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.”

The police confirmed to Local 10 that a bartender was also shot in both hands during the incident. He was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Williams reportedly fled the scene following the scene and remained behind bars in Volusia County as of Tuesday morning. He was previously arrested in 2021 in Miami-Dade County on a charge of battery on a pregnant woman, but the charge was later dropped.

Williams spent four years at Miami before transferring to Maryland. He would eventually reenter the transfer portal in December 2023 but was not listed at any program going into 2024.

Williams did not play in 2020, as he redshirted for the Miami Hurricanes. He played in four games in 2021, recording 18 total tackles, as well as an interception. Williams looked primed for a bigger role in 2022 but did not achieve that.

In the 2022 season, Williams played in 11 games and recorded just nine tackles. Williams also recovered one fumble for a Hurricanes team that greatly struggled during the 2022 season. While at Maryland, he played in four games for the Terrapins, tallying three tackles.

A four-star prospect coming out of Deland, Fla., in the 2020 recruiting class, Williams was rated as the No. 54 overall player and No. 1 safety in the class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

When he chose Miami out of high school, Williams chose the ‘Canes over offers from Miami, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, and others.