Ex-San Ysidro Basketball Star Mikey Williams Sentenced to Probation in Jamul Shooting

Former San Ysidro High School basketball star Mikey Williams, who was arrested last year in connection with allegations that he opened fire on a car occupied by a group of people outside his Jamul home, was sentenced Monday to one year of summary probation and his felony criminal threats conviction in the case was reduced to a misdemeanor.

Williams, 20, previously faced decades in prison if convicted of all charges stemming from the March 27, 2023, non-injury shooting.

Prosecutors alleged Williams got into an argument with a group of people who arrived at his home unannounced just before midnight, threatened them, then shot at their car as they were leaving the home. None of the six people inside the car was struck by the gunfire.

Witnesses who testified at a preliminary hearing held last year said they did not see Williams open fire on the vehicle, though some of the witnesses said they saw him holding a gun.

Several of the car’s occupants, who were juveniles at the time, testified that Williams threatened them. One girl testified Williams told the group that they “better get to stepping or you’ll leave with bullet holes,” while another girl testified he said, “We’re up in the mountains so no one will be able to save us or help us.”

Last fall, Williams pleaded guilty to the criminal threats count and his plea agreement included a misdemeanor reduction if he did not violate any laws and completed 80 hours of volunteer work, anger management, and gun safety courses.

That agreement was honored at Williams’ sentencing hearing on Monday afternoon, during which Williams appeared in court virtually. Along with probation, Williams is prohibited from owning a firearm for the next 10 years.

Williams, also a social media star whose basketball talents landed him an endorsement deal with Puma at 17 years old, was originally committed to play at the University of Memphis, but he is currently attending the University of Central Florida, according to one of his defense attorneys, Randy M. Grossman.

Grossman said his client’s future is  “extremely bright. Unfortunately, he was not able to continue playing where he was supposed to in Memphis. Now he’s going to be at Florida where he’s going to work extremely hard every day, on the court, shooting baskets. So I have very high expectations that he’s going to have an incredible season this year.”

The defense attorney said Williams completed “well in excess” of the required 80 hours of community service ordered by the court and said his client “was volunteering his time to help kids long before this court case even came up. That’s just in his DNA, who he is.”

Grossman denied that Williams shot at anyone on March 27 and noted his client did not plead guilty to any charges involving discharging a firearm.

“Obviously, people showed up at his home uninvited at midnight. It was an unfortunate sequence of events. Mr. Williams stepped up. He admitted responsibility for the threats he made,” Grossman said.

City News Service contributed to this article.