Indiana University student Ethan Williams' accused killer granted bail

The Brooklyn man charged this week in the 2020 killing of Indiana college student Ethan Williams was granted bail Friday — in what the victim’s father blasted as an “unbelievable” decision by the judge.

Judge Leigh Cheng ignored objections from prosecutors, who asked that William Freeman be locked up without bail, citing his lengthy criminal history and detailing evidence tying him to the fatal shooting — including a taped confession.

The victim’s dad, Thomas Williams, told The Post he was in a state of “shock” after prosecutors told him his son’s accused killer had finally been arrested Thursday — and then was taken aback when he learned Cheng set a $350,000 bail for the suspect.

“I don’t know that he has the money to make the bail, but apparently all of the buzz about killers being released to walk your streets freely in New York are true. Unbelievable,” Williams said following the hearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Freeman — who has nine prior arrests for drugs, assault and petty larceny dating back to 2013 — allegedly admitted to opening fire on 20-year-old Ethan Williams and his pals on Oct. 23, 2020, in a tragic case of mistaken identity, prosecutors said.

He apparently believed one of the people sitting with Williams had murdered his cousin, and, wanting to scare them, allegedly fired several shots into the group — striking the college sophomore in the chest, prosecutors said.

Ethan Williams was remembered as a caring young man always willing to help others.

Jason Williams

The accused shooter then dropped the gun and fled in a cab, said Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Jordan Rossman, adding investigators found DNA matching Freeman’s on the murder weapon.

Freeman already had a warrant out for his arrest in a separate Manhattan case when cops stopped him Thursday night in a car with no front license plate and not wearing a seat belt, the prosecutor said, asking that he be remanded.

Defense attorney Jay Schwitzman, meanwhile, did not make a bail argument, saying he wanted to thoroughly investigate charges.

Still, Cheng insisted that bail was “appropriate,” and set the amount at $350,000 cash or $600,000 partially-secured bond.

“Well certainly bail is appropriate, and what’s discretionary depending on the risk of flight would be the bail, as I said,” Cheng said after Rossman asked him to “articulate” why he thinks “remand is not appropriate in this case.”

“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,” the judge added.

Freeman’s arraignment came just days after the two-year anniversary of the day Williams was buried, his dad said.

“It was just two years ago this week that we buried Ethan, so this last two weeks have been hard for our family anyway as we relive memories on [the] anniversary of his death,” Jason Williams told The Post.

Williams said prosecutors told him Thursday that the alleged gunman had confessed to the crime. The news of the arrest came after the family had learned that “this is not an episode of ‘Law & Order,” and it might be some time before an arrest was made in the case — if ever.

“And to be completely honest, yes, I was starting to give up hope,” he said. “Starting to consider what it would be like to live rest of my life knowing no one would be held accountable for killing our son. But I also understand that this is not over.

“We are still a while away from a conviction, so I will not consider this a true success until Justice has been brought to our family by the people of New York City,” he added.

Ethan Williams had become obsessed with the Big Apple ever since he saw the movie “Spider-Man” as a young child, his dad said. As a sophomore in the film media program at Indiana, he finally got his chance to visit New York on a “dream trip” with some friends to film skateboarding videos.

Williams’ family waited two years before an arrest in his tragic shooting.

Williams family

After his death, the student was remembered as a caring young man always looking to help others, whether volunteering for missionary work in Rwanda or spearheading an LGBTQ club. Hours before his tragic end, he bought a homeless man a sandwich, according to his father.

The grieving dad said had prayed every day for the last two years for justice for his son.

“My prayer and hope was not that Ethan‘s killer would get caught up in some other violence with his life taken before he saw justice,” he said. “I didn’t want him to get into some kind of shootout with the police and die. Ethan wouldn’t want that, so neither could I, even if that is a natural reaction.

“Simply, I prayed that he would, at some point, begin to understand the consequences of his actions and the incredible grief and pain and dashed hopes his violent actions have brought onto so many who knew and loved Ethan, and that he would do the right thing by confessing to his crimes,” he went on.

Still, he wants the accused to serve out a “very, very long” sentence.

“But I also hope that during that time he becomes the kind of man that he could be instead of remaining the man he now is,” he said.

Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy

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