David Joseph Williams, aged eighteen, of the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, had studied at Restoration's Youth Arts Academy since the age of five. An enthusiastic student of African drum teacher Delwyn Stanton-Gilkes, he performed throughout the five boroughs of New York City and in Guinea, West Africa. At the time of the 2008 interview, Williams was still attending drum class despite having passed the age limit in addition to being a student at Medgar Evers Middle College High School.