Zach Latham is an American TikToker who was indicted in the murder case of correctional officer William T. “Timmy” Durham. He now lives in Florida with his family awaiting trial.
After Zach succeeded in killing the American policeman, it was discovered that he did it just to gain popularity on TikTok. Evidence of this claim abounds on his TikTok page where the New Jersey resident has been bragging about how he treats his neighbors and dubbing himself “a cop killer”.
How Old is Zach Latham?
Zachary Thomas Latham’s date of birth and age are not known, but he is from New Jersey in the United States. Other information about him that is readily available is that he grew up under the watch of his grandparents, became emancipated at age 17, and served in the New Jersey National Guard as a private.
Zach also got married early and is working in Fort Myers as a car salesman. Nothing else is known about his family background and formative years, including the schools he went to.
Why was Zach Latham Arrested?
In 2020, precisely on the 4th of May, Zach Latham stabbed an American veteran correctional officer, William Durham Sr. (William T. “Timmy” Durham) to death. The gory incident happened after William and Latham locked heads in a serious dispute very close to William’s house and ended at Zach’s storage.
Zach had allegedly been at loggerheads with Durham’s wife for several weeks. He once made attempts to run down one of the officer’s sons (a 17-year-old boy) who was riding his bicycle on the highway and a verbal altercation ensued. This incident happened in their family Vineland in a New Jersey neighborhood.
The altercation turned violent as the Durhams came after Latham while he was driving home and upon his arrival, Zach lunged for the kitchen to arm himself with a stun gun and a cutter. Holding the knife, Zach swung at William Jr. (Durham’s son) but missed his target which led him to face the father and started stabbing him.
Zach Latham eventually succeeded in stabbing the correctional offer several times and he died on the spot. However, surprisingly, Latham who was clearly the assailant went to place a call to emergency responders with claims that he has been assaulted.
In his 911 call, Zach was saying that he was assaulted and jumped and the whole place was covered with blood and the blood is dripping all over his body. He told the authorities that his attackers came into his property bearing guns and later drove away after he fought them off. When the authorities arrived, they took Latham to a nearby hospital where his injuries were treated and he was subsequently released.
He was Later Charged to Court
Before the end of May, Zach Latham faced charges of aggravated manslaughter and assault as a result of the fatal encounter. In his defense, Zach claimed self-defense, and going on, the NJ native said he had to grab those weapons to protect himself from what he described as a mob attack in his own Vineyard. The charge was later changed to first-degree murder.
Latham, who just turned 18 before the murder, was later banned from staying anywhere in the New Jersey neighborhood; this formed part of the teenager’s pretrial release. This led him to move to Florida while awaiting trial.
While in the Sunshine State, it was later discovered that Zach Latham was using the murder case as a source of acclaim. In fact, he was gaining so much fame for dubbing himself “a cop killer”. Reports also revealed that the youngster was actually using the title to intimidate people who are likely to cooperate in the ongoing investigation by providing useful information.
It was All for TikTok Fame
While the stabbing that took the life of William T. “Timmy” Durham was ongoing, Sarah Latham, the wife of Zach Latham, was standing by, videotaping the whole incident.
The couple later posted the video on their TikTok handle and leveraged it to ride to fame. As the case continued to unfold, it became glaring that Zach was actually obsessed with internet fame and that most of his TikTok videos were various altercations with his neighbors.
According to NJ.com, one particular upload already accumulated above 3 million. The fatal fight has also been dismissed as deliberate by Durham’s attorney; he claimed Latham pre-planned everything and instigated the fight so as to have something to film and post.
In one of his uploads, Latham captioned it, “that is how you handle the neighbors”; this upload has since been deleted from the platform. There is also another video where he was seen threatening the family to reveal their address to the delight of his fans who were encouraging him.
In September 2020, Zach Latham was ordered by a judge to stop making public comments about the Durham case after one of his fans shared the Durhams’ home address via his TikTok posts. Soon after this, it was alleged that Zach went ahead to launch a brand new TikTok page where he continued sharing stuff about the case, and by October, Durham’s attorney has filed a motion to have his release revoked because of these issues.
Why was Zach Latham Re-arrested
While his murder case was still ongoing, Zach Latham got re-arrested in Florida where he allegedly threatened a motorist with a weapon.
The incident happened on a Saturday night on an expressway very close to Southwest Florida International Airport, Ft. Myers. According to what the Ft. Myers News-Press wrote after the incident, a motorist stopped a trooper, who located the Nissan Infinity that Zack was driving and discovered a black airsoft BB gun that looks like an AK-47 in the car.
For this particular incident, Latham’s charges were listed as felony aggravated assault for his attempt to deliberately ram the other driver’s car. By Monday afternoon, Zach managed to secure a $40,000 bond release and went home to await his arraignment slated for February 2022.
Where is Zach Latham Now?
Zach Latham is in Florida where he relocated while awaiting the trial for his murder case. He has been here since he left jail in May 2022, and has been living with his family. The last that was heard of his case was that he would be arraigned by the end of 2022.
