He was the only child of Rufus O. Williams, a teacher at Sulzberger Middle School, and his wife, Imelda, a secretary at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

[6] In 2005, he challenged Lynne Abraham, Philadelphia's longtime incumbent district attorney, in the Democratic primary, but lost with 46% of the vote.

He left in 2008 to take a position as counsel at Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, a Center City law firm.

During his period in office, Williams served as an adjunct professor at Temple and Villanova universities, as well as an advisory board member at Penn State Abington.

[6] In January 2011, Williams' office brought multiple charges through a grand jury against Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, for allegedly killing infants after birth.

During proceedings, the youth's account of the alleged abuse changed, and doubts were raised about the veracity of the charges brought by Williams.

[11] According to a Newsweek article by Ralph Cipriano, Williams "has not explained any of the factual discrepancies in Billy's many stories, and why the D.A.

"[11] The accused priest, Msgr William Lynn, was convicted, but has been in the appeals process (including another trial) ever since; the latest iteration was delayed from March 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[15] Frank Fina, Patrick Blessington and Marc Costanzo, prosecutors for former Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, were part of an email chain during this period that swapped the pornographic and offensive messages.

[18] Fina was permitted by Williams to voluntarily resign in 2016 in order to fulfill a pre-determined plan to start his own private law practice.

[21] Williams was accused of accepting bribes, totaling more than $175,000 in undisclosed "gifts,"[3] for which he had already been fined $62,000 by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics.

[23][24] On June 29, 2017, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of bribery contrary to Pennsylvania law, which is punishable up to 5 years in prison with the maximum potential fine of $250,000.

[25] The plea agreement was announced during the eighth day of his trial, as federal prosecutors outlined their 29-count corruption case against Williams.

[29] His sentence was later reduced to less than three years on account of completing a drug rehabilitation program in prison and maintaining good behavior; he was released in April 2020 and returned to Philadelphia.