ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- Authorities say they arrested 17-year-old Michael Williams Jr. on charges of second-degree murder related to the shooting of J'Sean Williams on November 15th. The shooting happened in the early morning hours when Williams was celebrating his 21st birthday at a home in the town of Southport.
RELATED: Elmira Teen Charged with Murder in Southport Shooting
The victim, J'Sean Williams, and the suspect, Michael Williams Jr., are not related.
The Chemung County Sheriff's Office spent six days trying to locate the suspect with dozens of leads helping them find the Elmira teen.
"This is a result of the homicide investigation from Richard Street last week," says Chemung County Sheriff Bill Schrom. "Individual Michael Williams, 17 years of age, was arrested in an apartment complex in Binghamton last Thursday night by the Binghamton Police Department and the Broome County Sheriff's Office."
Authorities say the 100-plus leads helped them track down Williams Jr. at an apartment building in Binghamton. That's when Chemung County Sheriff connected with Binghamton Sheriff's Office to help make the arrest.
"All those leads and the information, the follow-ups from the interviews just information that was coming in in general led us in that direction. We were searching for him pretty heavily on Thursday and then got information he was actually at a location in Binghamton. So we switched our resources to that area and we're successful in getting him," said Schrom.
In New York, juveniles can be charged as an adult for serious felonies, like murder. As of Monday, November 25th, Williams Jr. is being held in a detention center, but he could be transferred to an adult facility. Schrom says Williams Jr. is turning 18 at the end of the year, and the district attorney's office is working to figure out placement for the teen suspect.
"I mean eventually. That may happen, especially when he hits the age of 18. I can just assure the public that our investigation is going to continue. We still have leads to follow up on. We have to ensure that there's nobody else associated with the action that took place, whether it was directly or indirectly. So these are things that we'll continue to work on. It's not over just because we made an arrest. We will do our due diligence to make sure we look at every possible aspect of this investigation," shared Schrom.
The Sheriff's Office says this case remains an active investigation with Williams Jr. being held without bail. He is also charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.