William S. Burroughs Jr. was the son of William S. Burroughs and Joan Vollmer. On September 6, 1951, Billy's father shot and killed his mother in a drunken game of 'William Tell' in Mexico City. In chapter three of his second novel, Kentucky Ham, Burroughs relates his memory of the day his mother was shot dead, as well as the subsequent reunion with his father after he was freed from a Mexico City prison.