Talk:Murder of Davontae Williams

Page move

I wrote this entry on Lisa Ann Coleman, and when I named the page I was thinking of another article I wrote on a subject who was executed (David Martin Long, a man who is known more for events that occurred after he was on death row). I am starting to rethink the page name in light of WP:CRIME and the fact that the subject is only widely known in the context of Davontae Williams' death. I know that this will require some reworking of the structure of the article, so I am delaying the GA nomination for now.

Should I move this to Death of Davontae Williams or Murder of Davontae Williams? I like "death" because it sounds a bit less sensational, but I know that it is a common convention to specify murder in the page title if there was a criminal conviction. Larry Hockett (Talk) 14:19, 15 September 2020 (UTC)

I think "murder" as it is more specific. Chidgk1 (talk) 20:13, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

So US juries can decide the penalty?!

As a Brit I was surprised to read here that the jury decided the punishment. If the USA is unusual in this respect it might be worth expanding on a little.Chidgk1 (talk) 20:15, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Yes, usually a U.S. jury makes this determination, but in some jurisdictions it is just a recommendation that can be overridden by the judge. See the Tommy Zeigler case out of Florida, where the jury recommended life imprisonment but the judge handed down a death sentence (which itself has been delayed by appeals for more than 40 years). You have a good point; I took it for granted that the reader would be familiar with the process of the jury deciding the sentence. Larry Hockett (Talk) 21:18, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Picture of the victim?

Is there one which is not too gruesome? Maybe when he was alive? Chidgk1 (talk) 20:18, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

I have seen a few living photos of him. I've been meaning to add one with a fair use rationale. I wasn't necessarily going to do that when Lisa Ann Coleman was the subject of the article and her photo was in the infobox, but now he is more the focus of the entry. Larry Hockett (Talk) 21:18, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Mobile home?

I just realised that my edit about "family" and "home" might be wrong if they were living in a mobile home. If so maybe link if there is an article on tbe lifestyle. Chidgk1 (talk) 06:12, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

The edit wasn't wrong because of the type of home. The bigger issue is that moved home just isn't a meaningful phrase in American English. We would just say "the family moved". Larry Hockett (Talk) 15:26, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Murder of Davontae Williams/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: DMT biscuit (talk) 01:21, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Comments:

Lead

• "who died of malnutrition in 2004 at his apartment..."→"who, in 2004, died of malnutritiion..."

Background

• "There were allegations that Coleman had been sexually abused as a toddler by her foster parents". Allegations by whom? Friends, family? CPS or other official bodies?

• "A cousin stabbed Coleman in the back when she was eleven years old.[3] A relative provided Coleman with drugs and alcohol when she was in her teens.[2]" → "As a preteen, Coleman was stabbed* by a cousin.[3] In her teens, she would be provided with drugs and alcohol by another relative".

• I excluded the detail of the stab occurring in her back, as the way it was wondered may lead to some interpreting the sentence as noting betrayal instead of literally describing the attack.

• "As a young adult, she went to prison twice, once for burglary and once for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.[1]" add this after the mention of drugs and join the two paras.

• "She was 14 when her son Davontae was born prematurely; he had developmental disabilities" → " She was 14 when her son Davontae was born prematurely and with developmental disabilities."

July 26, 2004

• Rename the section to Murder

Initial comments done. Copyvio, spot checks and source reviews still to occur and will likely be accompanied by additional comments but at moment it seems to be in very good quality. DMT biscuit (talk) 02:22, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for this feedback. I've addressed the above, except for the change in wording about born prematurely and with developmental disabilities. I don't think I can say he was born with developmental problems; many of the developmental complications of prematurity occur after birth. I particularly appreciate the catch on "stabbed in the back", as I didn't carefully consider the meaning of that idiom when I wrote it. Larry Hockett (Talk) 03:37, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for providing an explanation, @Larry Hockett:. I've checked the sources and possibility of copyvio and all seems to be good; spot checks were similarly fine with one exception which is noted below. Fix that and the article will pass. Good work. DMT biscuit (talk) 12:23, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Copyvio

• Article passes. It's currently said to have a 10% ranking on Earwig's Copyvio Detector, indicating that violation is unlikely. DMT biscuit (talk) 12:07, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Source review

• All sources appear to be reliable, under GA criteria. Note: [1] [4] and [16] have bare URLs instead of the names of publications/websites etc. May want to fix this to have a consistent cite style, but this isn't necessary under GA criteria. DMT biscuit (talk) 12:07, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Spot checks

• Almost all good. In Marcella and Davontae Williams biographies, I was unable to find that [5] supported Davontae being born prematurely and having developmental disabilities. DMT biscuit (talk) 12:23, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. I really bungled the reference in that sentence, but I have now addressed it. (I added one ref for the birth year and one for the prematurity and developmental disabilities.) Larry Hockett (Talk) 21:58, 15 February 2021 (UTC)