No Leads in Tragic 1985 Murder of a Toddler in Naked City
Photo of 3-year-old Arthur Williams, Jr., who was murdered outside of his apartment complex in the Naked City neighborhood of Las Vegas in 1985. (Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)
The Naked City - the neighborhood bordered by Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas Boulevard, Industrial Road, and Wyoming Avenue - has for decades been known as one of the highest-crime neighborhoods in Las Vegas.
But even the jaded residents of Naked City were shocked by the 1985 murder of a small child by an unknown attacker.
Local press coverage of the site of the Williams murder. (Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)
It was just around 6:00 p.m. when 3-year-old Arthur Williams, Jr. and his 5-year-old sister Anglia exited their family’s apartment unit at 213 West New York Avenue. Arthur was known around the neighborhood for being an energetic and friendly young child. At some point while the siblings played in the front yard Anglia took a seat on a low concrete wall and was joined by an unknown man. As Arthur continued to play on the sidewalk in front of his apartment, the stranger told Anglia, “I’m going to kill your brother.”
The man then rose from his spot on the wall, pulled out a folding knife, and approached Arthur. Apparently without any further indication of a motive, the unidentified man stabbed Arthur just above his ear.
The brutal attack was over as suddenly as it had unfolded. The attacker ran south down a nearby alleyway. Meanwhile, Arthur’s mother and a neighbor attempted to perform CPR on the child while awaiting an ambulance. Sadly, Arthur was declared dead after his arrival at the hospital.
The investigation into the Williams murder was extensively covered by the local Las Vegas press, including in part by well-known Nevada journalist Jon Ralston (Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)
Investigators were baffled as to a motive for the murder of the young boy. The children had been outside playing for only about ten minutes. Detective Tom Dillard of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said, “There could be no provocation for this. The kids were not out there long enough to do anything.”
And nothing in the hours leading up to the stabbing provided any additional insight into a motive for the attack. Arthur and Anglia’s father, a porter at the Tropicana Hotel, had dropped the kids off at their mother’s home to visit for a few hours as was a routine between the couple. Arthur’s mother, a maid at the Las Vegas Hilton, took the children to get dinner at KFC before returning to her apartment. Arthur had ventured outside a few minutes before his sister as she finished up her chicken.
The only description of the assailant came from 5-year-old Anglia. The killer was described as a white man standing about 5’8 with a slim build, light brown hair and eyes, a slight mustache, and wearing a white button-down shirt. Detectives received hundreds of tips in the days after the Williams murder on a phone line set up to track leads in the case, and while no suspect was identified as a result of these efforts, tipsters did reveal that the unknown attacker was spotted in the area outside of Arthur’s apartment building about 15 minutes or so before the murder.
For their part, Arthur’s parents believed there may have been other witnesses to their son’s killing, with his father telling the local press, “I think there are some people in the neighborhood…who are afraid to come forward because they don’t have their papers. They feel sorry for the kid, but they don’t want to put their lives on the line.” A local Las Vegas couple, Jim and Rosa Weber, wanted to assist in the investigation in case there was something to the concerns raised by Arthur’s parents. Rosa was a native of Mexico and spoke fluent Spanish. She and her husband bought a second phone line and distributed Spanish language posters in the Naked City soliciting information about the Williams murder in the hope that undocumented witnesses would be more willing to provide a tip to Rosa instead of the police. Despite the Webers’ good intentions, their tip line did not yield any additional leads.
Photograph of the Naked City neighborhood in 2019. (Anthony T. Smith)
The murder left the Naked City shaken. Despite the area’s reputation for high crime, children and families frequented the neighborhood’s streets. But not so much after the brazen and senseless murder of Arthur Williams in broad daylight. One resident referred to the area as “Hell Street” after the slaying. And at least two families relocated from the Naked City in the weeks following the murder.
No suspects have been identified in the 35 years since the tragic killing of Arthur Williams, Jr. A neighbor speculated about the murderer, “I wonder why he didn’t hurt the girl. I guess the guy was nuts or planned to kill the boy all along.”