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by Griffin Jones
San Francisco police have named a suspect in the racist death threats against Terry Williams, a Black dog walker and lifelong Fillmore resident. And it turns out, the two have some history.
The suspect is a 67-year-old Black woman named April Martin Chartrand, a resident of the 700 block of Steiner Street – the same city block as the Williams family. Chartrand’s family reported her missing only weeks ago, on Aug. 23. Police say they are actively searching for her.
Over the phone, Williams sounded at once relieved and at a loss. “I just told my neighbor the other day: ‘I hope it’s not a Black lady. Her life is gonna be upside down.’”
Based on neighbors’ security footage, the hooded figure who dropped packages containing blackface dolls, nooses and death threats at Williams’ gate on April 26 and May 5 appeared to be an older woman of color. But details remained unclear, and are still unconfirmed. Police officially named a suspect in a press release this morning. In a response to requests for comment, SFPD told the Bay View they were not able to release details of the investigation.
Following both incidents, a fast-moving blaze on May 21 made the Williams home uninhabitable. The fire left Williams, his three rottweilers and his parents, Luddie, 82, and Carolyn, 79, without a home. According to the San Francisco Fire Department, the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
Williams and Chartrand have been neighbors for years, but stopped speaking some time ago. “We got into it over broken plates,” said Williams.
A few years ago, Williams told the Bay View, he saw Chartrand scattering broken plates and glass in the planters outside her building on Steiner and Hayes.
“I went up and said, ‘What are you doing? Dogs step on that!’ She was breaking plates so dogs would get hurt and wouldn’t want to go there. I confronted her, and she’s hated me since,” he said. Before being displaced from the city, Williams made a living walking local dogs in Alamo Square multiple times a day.
While on the phone with the Bay View, Williams scrolled through search results looking into Chartrand’s background. “I see her all the time. She even walked by when we had the first rally,” he said in disbelief.
Chartrand’s LinkedIn profile also states that she has a certificate of completion for a course in Black Psychology from the California Institute for Integral Studies. She’s been a guest speaker at the city’s Human Rights Commission as well as on KPOO, a historic Black radio station in the Fillmore.
Since the fire, Carolyn Williams has been in and out of the hospital for serious complications from smoke inhalation. The Red Cross with the San Francisco Department of Public Health placed the Williams family in a hotel outside city limits. But even today, over three months later, they remain without clear prospects for housing.
Now, said Williams, there may be at least some closure. Even with Chartrand at large, Williams feels more ease knowing there’s a suspect. “I can finally take a deep breath of relief,” he said.
Williams is trying to maintain some compassion, but he has a strong sense of need for justice and anger that Chartrand may have played a part in his family’s displacement.
“I want her to go to jail — but I’m gonna pray for her,” he said. “I know the consequences for someone like her in jail. Because of what she’s done. Her life is upside down. It’s gonna be bad for her.”
Griffin Jones is a San Francisco-based freelance writer. She formerly worked at Mission Local, the San Francisco Bay View and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She can be reached at griffinforrestjones@gmail.com.
This resource was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library via California Black Media as part of the Stop the Hate Program. The program is supported by partnership with California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
