Ezekiel Williams had been a Hendon FC player for less than two months when he died. The 26-year-old midfielder joined the north London club in September, scored his first goal for them against Jersey Bulls on 24 October, nine days before his death, and was fatally injured in the early hours of Sunday, 1 November on Midsummer Boulevard in Milton Keynes.
He died the following day. A Home Office postmortem gave the preliminary cause of death as a head injury.
His sister Shadore spoke about the brother she watched grow up.
“Seeing Ezekiel get older and gain different ambitions in life was the best thing I could have witnessed,” she told Yahoo News in a family tribute published this week.
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She added that her brother went on to work as a football coach and teach children who shared his love of the game.
Two men in court, a third on bail
Thames Valley Police charged two men with murder on 5 November. Sameull Hussein, 28, of no fixed abode, and Arman Uddin, 21, of Saxon Road in Luton, appeared at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 6 November. A third man, aged 30 and also from Luton, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and released on conditional bail.
With proceedings now active, the force asked the public to hold back.
“As criminal proceedings are now active, we would ask people not to speculate about the circumstances of this case, either online or elsewhere,” Thames Valley Police said.
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A brother’s picture of the man
His brother Omran described a meticulous character who took pride in the small things.
“Ezekiel was an extremely dedicated and somewhat obsessive kind of man when it came to detail and punctuality,” Omran told Yahoo News.
Both siblings pointed to his work with young footballers as the part of his life he was proudest of. A fundraising page set up by his best friend Tyrique Clarke has raised close to £19,000 for the family.
Hendon’s statement
Hendon FC, who play in the eighth tier of English football, announced his death in a club statement the day he died.
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“We are stunned and heartbroken to announce the sudden and tragic passing of midfielder Ezekiel Williams,” the club said, describing him as “a humble, unassuming and generous individual with a razor-sharp wit”.
Hussein and Uddin remain charged with one count of murder each. The next scheduled step in the case is a Crown Court hearing following their magistrates’ appearance.
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