Pernell Sims Pleads Guilty to Murdering Tyshida Williams in Phone Dispute While Child Was Present
He Killed Tyshida Over an Argument
Pernell Sims Pleads Guilty to Murdering Tyshida Williams in Phone Dispute While Child Was Present
Washington, D.C. — A domestic argument over a cell phone escalated into a fatal shooting that initially stumped investigators, but nearly three years later, the case has reached a grim resolution. Pernell Sims, 35, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July 2023 death of his former romantic partner, Tyshida Williams, in a case that exposed the brutal reality of escalating domestic violence and the tragedy of investigative misclassification.
The morning of July 30, 2023, began with an argument that seemed almost mundane—a dispute about Williams’s phone. But prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia revealed in court documents that this routine disagreement transformed into a sustained assault that spanned multiple locations within Sims’s apartment complex.
The couple took their argument to the lobby and parking garage area of Sims’s building, where tensions boiled over into physical violence. Over the course of more than an hour, the confrontation turned brutal. According to federal prosecutors, Sims threw Williams to the ground in the parking garage and kicked her in the chest, a level of force that signaled the danger that would follow.
Rather than de-escalating, the conflict moved inside. Sims and Williams returned to his apartment, where his child was present. With the door closed and a young witness somewhere within the residence, Sims retrieved a weapon and shot Williams in the left side of her head. She died from her injuries later that morning, transforming a domestic dispute into a homicide scene that would baffle investigators for months.
The case took a particularly troubling turn in its initial investigation. WUSA reported that Williams’s death was originally ruled a suicide—a classification that, had it stood, would have allowed Sims to evade justice entirely. The circumstances of the shooting, however, eventually led authorities to reexamine the evidence, and the cause of death was changed to homicide. Sims was arrested in November 2023 and has remained in custody since.
What distinguishes this case from other domestic homicides is Sims’s unequivocal admission of guilt. During his plea proceedings, prosecutors noted that Sims “confirmed that, in shooting Williams, he was acting voluntarily, and that he was not acting in self-defense.” This direct acknowledgment eliminated any potential claims of provocation or defense, establishing the shooting as a pure act of domestic violence.
The presence of Sims’s child in the apartment during the shooting adds another layer of trauma to an already devastating case. Children who witness domestic violence homicides often experience profound psychological impacts, and the fact that this death occurred in their own home—a place that should represent safety—compounds the tragedy.
Sims pleaded guilty on January 31, 2026, to one count of second-degree murder, a charge that reflects the deliberate nature of the killing while acknowledging the absence of premeditation that would elevate it to first-degree murder. He is scheduled for sentencing in March, where he faces substantial prison time in the federal system.
Tyshida Williams, remembered by friends and family through social media as Tyshida Ny’shamother Williams, leaves behind a community grappling with the senselessness of her death. Her case serves as a stark reminder of how quickly domestic disputes can turn lethal, particularly when abusers choose violence over separation.
The case also highlights the challenges in investigating deaths that occur in domestic settings. The initial suicide ruling demonstrates how homicide can be misclassified when it occurs between intimate partners, potentially delaying justice for victims. The reversal of that finding and subsequent arrest underscore the importance of thorough investigation even in cases that appear, at first, to be self-inflicted.
For domestic violence advocates, Williams’s death represents the deadly culmination of patterns that often begin with control and surveillance—exemplified by the argument over her phone—and escalate to physical violence in private spaces. The extended argument in the parking garage, where Sims assaulted Williams in a semi-public space, suggests opportunities for intervention that were missed or unavailable.
As Sims awaits sentencing, the Washington, D.C. community continues to confront the reality that domestic violence homicides persist even as awareness campaigns grow. The presence of a child during the shooting serves as a haunting reminder that the victims of domestic violence extend beyond the immediate target, leaving lasting scars on young witnesses who must process unimaginable trauma.
The case of Tyshida Williams stands as a testament to the importance of re-examining closed cases, the necessity of treating domestic disputes with appropriate gravity, and the tragic cost of unresolved conflicts between former partners. When Sims is sentenced in March, the justice system will deliver its verdict, but for those who loved Williams and for the child who was present that morning, the healing process is only beginning.