
Body believed to be missing 2-year-old Bronx boy found in East River: sources
A body believed to be the 2-year-old Bronx boy who vanished a month ago was discovered floating in the East River Wednesday morning, sources said.
Investigators believe they found little Montrell Williams' lifeless body around 12:20 p.m. near the Whitestone Bridge at Ferry Point Park in Queens, according to the sources.
Montrell Williams
Advertisement
Montrell was last seen May 10, when he was in the custody of his 20-year-old dad, Arius Williams, according to the sources.
The young dad took Montrell to a Mother's Day gathering, where he apparently got into a scuffle with his own father and stormed off with the toddler, sources said.
Officials search for the missing boy.
Peter Gerber
Surveillance footage taken that night allegedly shows Arius throwing a black bag into the Bronx River, sources said.
Advertisement
In the days to come, the boy's concerned 17-year-old mom called the cops, who appeared to have told her they couldn't intervene if her son is on a regularly scheduled visit, the sources said.
When both parents ran into each other on the street Sunday, Arius allegedly pulled a knife on his ex and claimed he threw their son off the Bruckner Bridge, according to the sources.
Arius was taken into custody Monday on custodial interference charges, after refusing to tell a family court judge his son's whereabouts, cops and sources said.
He did not immediately face any other charges Wednesday.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bronx dad Arius Williams charged for murder of 2-year-old son Montrell Williams found dead in East River: sources
Arius Williams, the father of Montrell Williams, the 2-year-old Bronx boy believed to have been found dead in the East River after going missing for a month, has been charged with murdering the toddler, police sources said Thursday. Williams, 20, has been locked up on Rikers Island since Monday, a day after he allegedly threatened Montrell's 17-year-old mother with a knife and told her he had thrown the the boy into the Bronx River, cops said. He was sent to jail for being in contempt of court for refusing to disclose to a Bronx Family Court judge where the missing boy was. On Thursday he was charged with murdering his son. Police recovered the badly decomposed body of a small child believed to be Montrell about 50 yards from the East River shoreline near the Whitestone Bridge Wednesday afternoon. The city's Medical Examiner's office will conduct an autopsy to determine how the boy died. The body resembled the missing child and was dressed in a Calvin Klein T-shirt — the same article of clothing the toddler was wearing when he disappeared with his dad a month ago, heartbroken family members say cops told them. 'We are grieving,' the mother of the child said outside her Bronx home Wednesday evening. 'My family is grieving. I have no words.' Cops recovered surveillance video showing someone throwing a bag or package into the Bronx River from a bridge shortly after the boy went missing on May 10. 'There are moments that we captured that were unthinkable,' NYPD Chief of Department John Chell told WABC Eyewitness News Wednesday. 'What a catastrophe. What a shame. What a horror, totally evil.' Montrell was visiting his dad so the two could attend a Mother's Day celebration with Williams' family. But Williams got into a fight with his mother and stormed out of the home with little Montrell. That was the last time anyone saw the child alive. A few hours later, Williams showed up at a cousin's home without the child. When family members asked him where his son was, all he would say was, 'He's gone. He's gone!' they said. Concerned family members reached out to police but they were told nothing could immediately be done because Montrell was on an approved visit with his dad, law enforcement sources said. When Williams didn't return Montrell by that Monday, the child's mother and maternal grandmother went to Family Court. A Family Court judge issued a warrant for Williams' arrest on May 30, officials said. Williams' arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending Thursday. This story is developing and will be updated.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Milwaukee apartment fire; woman pleads not guilty in unrelated incident
The Brief Lakescha Warley pleaded not guilty to charges on Wednesday, June 11, in connection with fire damage inside a Milwaukee apartment building. That building later became the site of a fatal fire on Mother's Day. Warley is due back in court in mid-July. MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee woman accused of causing fire damage inside a Milwaukee apartment building that later became the site of a fatal fire that occurred on Mother's Day pleaded not guilty to charges on Wednesday, June 11. 45-year-old Lakescha Warley is charged with the following: Arson of property other than building Criminal damage to property (less than $2,500 damage) Before Warley entered her plea, the court heard testimony in a preliminary hearing. The judge then found probable cause to find Warley over for trial. What we know According to the criminal complaint, the fire damage was not connected or related to any other fire damage in other portions of the apartment complex, and was deemed an isolated fire location and damage area. It happened at Highland Court Apartments near 27th and Highland on Sunday, May 11. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android During a walk-through of the apartment building, the apartment manager pointed out a damaged key fob, which controlled the entrance from the building to the parking structure. According to the criminal complaint, the key fob had been pulled off the wall, but still had power and was beeping. The bottom of the unit was melted from heat damage, consistent with someone applying fire or heat to this unit. The damage appeared consistent with a direct open flame source being applied to the key fob. There was also a burn mark above the key fob reader consistent with an open flame being applied to this key fob. The cover to the key fob was on the floor, and also appeared to have fire damage. After reviewing security video footage from the hallway, officials noted a woman – ultimately deemed to be Warley – enter the hallway around 5:30 a.m. She is not a resident of the building and does not have permission to be in the building, the complaint indicates. Detectives deduced that Warley could be seen setting fire damage to the key fob with an open flame and then leaving. Dig deeper According to the criminal complaint, Warley returned just after 6:30 a.m. and appears to be kicking at the wall at the area of the key fob. From security footage, detectives figured that it was consistent with Warley using an open flame to the cover on the first trip, coming back and kicking the cover off, and then again putting an open flame to the key fob, explaining why there is flame damage both to the outside and inside the key fob. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News Afterward, Warley admitted to law enforcement that she was the person in the hallway near the key fob. She told detectives she was using a lighter to smoke drugs in the corner, but did not explain how the fire damage ended up on both the inside electrical portion and the outside cover of the key fob, which was consistent with intentionally damaging the key fob exterior and interior with an open flame. Again, Warley has not been charged in connection with the fatal fire at the same apartment building that occurred later in the morning. What's next Warley is due back in court for a scheduling conference on July 14. If convicted, Warley faces up to more than four years in prison and approximately $20,000 in fines. The Source Information in this report is from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Bronx boy, 2, found in NYC waters: sources
THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) — The body believed to be a 2-year-old Bronx boy who disappeared last month was found in the water near College Point in Queens on Wednesday, sources said. Little Montrell Williams was last seen on May 10 at his grandmother's house in the Bronx, according to police and the family. Queens Harbor Patrol found the body between Throggs Neck Bridge and LaGuardia Airport, and investigators are waiting for Bronx detectives to identify the body, sources said. NYPD divers had been searching the Bronx River since Monday. The father, Arius Willaims, was caught on surveillance video throwing a bag, possibly with the child inside, into the river, sources said. The boy's father told his mom over the weekend that he had thrown their son into the Bronx River. He also told his mother, Sabrina Williams, the boy was still alive. 'He good. He good. Don't worry about it,' the dad told his mom over the weekend. The 17-year-old mom had not seen her son since May 10. Two days later, she went to family court to report that her son was missing, but a warrant was not issued, sources said. She went back a second time pleading for help, but the outcome was unclear because the records are sealed. The mom then followed Williams after he got on a Manhattan-bound train and pressed him about their child, sources said. Williams, who was previously arrested for beating up the teen, then allegedly pulled a knife on her during the encounter, sources said. Williams was arrested and brought back to the Bronx for questioning, but has not been charged, according to sources. He was then held at Rikers Island for custodial interference. The child's grandmother told PIX11 News she had warned police about Montrell's disappearance, but was told it was legal because he was the father. 'My son kidnapped my grandchild out my house,' she said she told police in an interview with PIX11 News on Tuesday. Her son left with Montrell after a fight at a Mother's Day gathering at the grandmother's home. She begged him to bring the baby back before going to the cops on May 11. Sources said detectives believe the boy was not alive when the grandmother went to police to file a missing person's report because the dad turned up at a family member's home on May 11 without Montrell. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday the department is investigating how the family's missing report was handled. 'The NYPD takes any case of a missing person very seriously,' Tisch said on Good Day New York. This is a developing story. Please refresh the page for updates. Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.