Everybody knew him as “Raydo,” the popular boxer and martial arts coach who taught others to defend themselves in a city where violence claims too many lives.
This weekend, Lorado Williams, too, became a casualty of that violence.
He seemed an unlikely victim in a city where police say most bloodletting is related to drugs and gangs.
“He never drank. He never smoked. He never did drugs. He never even ate at McDonald?s,” said Monika Bobrowska, Williams? girlfriend of 10 years.
“He was the healthiest guy I know. He worked out three or four hours every day. He absolutely loved boxing.”
Williams, 27, was shot once in the head at about 1:30 a.m. Friday during a robbery on the 3600 block of East Lombard Street, police said. A day later, doctors told Williams? family members he was brain dead. They told the hospital he would have liked to donate his organs, before the family took him off life support.
“Four or five people are going to live because of him,” Bobrowska said Wednesday, before bursting into tears.
Williams? brother Lavar, 25, was around the block from him the night of his slaying. Lorado was hanging with three friends when they were robbed.
He tried to run but was shot once in the head, directly beneath a police pole camera, Williams said.
“You got people that see a person doing good and they hate him,” Lavar Williams said. “They wanted to have what he had. They took what he had and his life along with it. They took my brother away. It happened right under the camera. It makes me feel angry.”
Baltimore boxers and martial arts competitors have been mourning Williams? death throughout the week.
“Every day I miss him,” said Charm City boxing coach Maxell Taylor, whose son was best friends with Williams. “He was like a son to me. He?d always ask me, ?Am I doing it right, coach?? ”
Williams recently began coaching at Ground Control in Canton, teaching wrestlers and jujitsu fighters how to box.
“He was very friendly, and he was open to helping anybody,” said Ryan Mackin, a former Hammond High School state champion wrestler who learned from Williams. “He was incredible at breaking stuff down. He was patient. But he could still bang with you. He was the best athlete I?ve ever seen.”
More than his boxing and coaching skills, Bobrowska said she will remember her boyfriend?s funny and engaging personality.
“We went to Cancun about five years ago, and within a day everybody was saying, ?Hey Raydo, hey Raydo!? ” she recalled. “He would make friends with anybody. He was the life of the party. If you met him, he would make you his friend in five minutes.”
Follow-up
Williams is one of 193 homicide victims in Baltimore City this year, compared with 167 through the same time last year. Police have made no arrests in the case.
A wake is scheduled for Zannino Funeral Home on 263 S. Conkling St. in Baltimore, with viewings from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. His funeral is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Greater Grace Outreach Church on 6025 Moravia Park Drive in Baltimore.
