(Photo of the the late Stephen Williams of Pittsburgh Courtesy of Pittsburgh Public Safety)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) According to court paperwork, twenty-five-year-old Jose Soto recently got charges that include criminal homicide and robbery that are in connection with the death of forty-two-year-old Stephen Williams of Pittsburgh. The body of Williams was pulled from the Ohio River near the rivers Casino in Pittsburgh on September 9th, 2025 and Williams was reported missing in Downtown Pittsburgh on September 5th, 2025. The criminal complaint filed by police alleges that Soto and another man were seen on surveillance video assaulting and robbing Williams before throwing him into the nearby river and that before the alleged actions happened, surveillance cameras spotted Williams walking on Strawberry Way before making his way through Downtown Pittsburgh. Police confirm that Soto and another unidentified man followed Williams down a ramp located under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to the walk of the Ohio River, which is when, according to police, the assault and robbery occurred, which included Soto stealing the backpack of Williams before running away. According to the criminal complaint, police say surveillance footage shows Soto running up the steps connecting to the 9th Street Bridge. It is unclear if Williams knew either Soto or the other man that allegedly assaulted him, robbed him and threw him into the Ohio River. Police also confirm that Soto did not identify the accomplice that worked with him and that charges of conspiracy for criminal homicide, criminal homicide and robbery are what Soto is facing as he is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bail.