The nephew of The Wire star Michael K. Williams has spoken of the moment he found his uncle’s body after a drug overdose.
Dominic Dupont immediately knew the star was dead and told 911 operators upon finding Williams, 54, in his Brooklyn penthouse on September 6 last year. ”He’s gone. He’s cold.”
Dupont was speaking about his uncle, made famous by the role of Omar Little in groundbreaking HBO series The Wire, to Jada Pinkett Smith on an episode of Red Table Talk that focused on the dangers of the deadly opiate fentanyl.
‘I think a lot of what happened — what I saw on September 6 — I’m still processing,’ Dupont said. ‘Michael was an amazing human being.’
Describing the moment he found Williams, Dupont said he stuck his head in the house and said: ”Uncle Mike, are you in here?” And I observed him deceased.’
Dupont explained that he had gone with his wife to visit his uncle after not hearing from him for two days.
‘I went upstairs, opened his door and it was quiet – Michael always played music. I stuck my head in and said ”Uncle Mike? Are you in here?”
He knew immediately that Williams had died, surrounded by drug paraphernalia.
Reporters were already gathering outside his window as news spread of the death of the 5-time-Emmy-nominated actor within an hour.
Williams had fought with addiction in the past, which he had been candid about during his career, but Dupont said he ‘was doing well’ before the relapse.
‘He was working on a book. It did not appear to me that Mike was sliding back into addiction,’ he said.
Williams mentored his nephew even after Dupont was convicted of murder at 19 years of age in 1997, receiving a 25 year jail sentence for shooting and killing a man to protect his twin brother in a fight.
Dupont was granted clemency for his leadership and positive impact in the prison system and released from prison in 2018 after serving 20 years.
He made an HBO documentary with Williams on his experiences called ‘Raised in the System’.
‘Mike didn’t appear to be overwhelmed or dealing with any major issues over the past five years,’ Dupont said.
‘But Michael also worked really hard not to have the things that he was going through weigh on other people. And he was an actor, right? I mean, you can fool people. You can convince people that you’re okay.’
But Dupont was adamant that, despite any demons Williams might have been facing, he would not knowingly have taken fentanyl.
‘I know that,’ he said. ‘I know that like I know my first name.’
‘Fentanyl finding its way into our communities is the reason why I know Michael would want me here.
‘A huge part of what my life entails now is honoring his legacy … Michael believed we don’t sit back and just look at things fall apart and just become complacent. If we do, we are complicit.
‘We have to work hard to make people aware of what is happening so that other people don’t have to feel the type of pain I’ve felt.’
Four men were arrested in connection with Williams’ death in February. Hector Robles, Luis Cruz, Carlos Macci and Irvin Cartagena were each charged with narcotics conspiracy for distributing the fentanyl-laced heroin that is believed to have killed the TV star.
Surveillance video released by investigators appeared to show Cartagena handing Williams the deadly drugs one day before the star’s body was found.
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