Dad of slain tourist blasts alleged NYC killer’s bail: ‘Act of malice’

The father of a young Indiana man gunned down during a visit to the city took aim Sunday at the “machine judge” who granted bail in the troubling stray-bullet slaying case.

Ethan Williams, 20, was fatally shot while sitting on the stoop of his Bushwick vacation rental with friends Oct. 23, 2020.

Suspect William Freeman, 26, was just arrested last week in the slaying, telling investigators he opened fire because he mistakenly believed one of Williams’ pals was a rival gang member who’d killed his cousin, officials said.

The suspect, who has nine prior arrests, was granted $350,000 bail by Brooklyn Criminal Court judge Leigh Cheng over the objection of prosecutors.

Ethan’s grieving father, Jason Williams, appeared on “Fox and Friends” Sunday to talk about the legal development.

“Total shock, unbelievable. It felt as an act of malice to hear that a judge would grant bail to someone who had just previously within the day or two before confessed to murdering my child,” Williams said.

Williams family handout

Courtesy of Jason Williams

Gregory P. Mango

“I’ve learned that some of these judges are called machine judges. In other words, they have some political connection to someone else who can get them on the ballot,” he continued.

“This judge received over 99% of the vote because it’s New York City and it’s a Democratic city. Yet, he’s letting murderers walk free on the streets. This murderer’s been free for two years, and he gave him another chance.”

Williams said his family was “very optimistic” Freeman would not be able to afford the bail or $600,000 partially-secured bond but said it was “scary” he had the opportunity.

Ethan Williams was an Indiana University sophomore who was visiting Brooklyn to film skateboarding videos for the school’s film-media program when he was killed.

He had dreamed of visiting New York since becoming a fan of the movie “Spider-Man” as a child, his dad said.

Judge Cheng explained to Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Jordan Rossman during the suspect’s arraignment why Freeman’s two counts of murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges were not enough to keep him behind bars.

“Obviously you requested remand, and I determined for a variety of reasons, obviously, the charges are very serious, however, I do believe some amount of bail is appropriate here,” he said in court Friday.