Post by Anja Nieser on Oct 1, 2006 6:01:35 GMT -5
MAN ACCUSED BY WILLIAMS DENIES MURDER INVOLVEMENT
A man accused by capital murder defendant Clifton Lamar Williams for
killing a 93-year-old Tyler woman testified Wednesday, denying any
involvement in the slaying.
Smith County jurors heard the seventh day of the state's evidence against
Williams, 22, who faces the death penalty if convicted of beating,
strangling and stabbing to death Cecelia Schneider before setting her body
on fire on July 9, 2005.
Williams told police that Jamarist "Monterrall" Paxton really killed Ms.
Schneider and forced him to go along, to cut himself to leave his DNA in
her house at 311 Callahan St., and to drive her stolen car.
Paxton, 18, said he did not kill Ms. Schneider, take anything that
belonged to her or drive her car.
He testified that he met Williams shortly after he moved to Tyler in 2004,
when Paxton was living on Callahan Street. He said he knew Ms. Schneider
lived a few houses down and would see her outside her house, but didn't
know her.
He said he didn't see Williams on July 8, 2005, but said Williams came to
his apartment, on Mike Street, early Saturday morning, at about 5 a.m. He
said Williams told him, "Man, I just messed up. I just killed somebody."
Williams told Paxton that he got into a fight and stabbed an "old" white
man in North Tyler, took his vehicle and purposely wrecked it. He said he
didn't believe Williams would do that. He said Williams showed him a cut
on hishand and he had blood on his clothes.
"I just didn't think he would do nothing like that ...," he said, adding
that he never saw Williams act violently.
Paxton said he got Williams to tell his girlfriend, Stella Barnes.
Williams slept at their apartment for a couple of hours and then left,
before returning later that day and several times that week.
Sometime before Williams was arrested, Paxton said he told Greg Winters,
his former neighbor on Callahan Street, when he asked him about it. He
said he told Winters about what "Crazy C" told him, but he didn't tell
anyone else or go to police because he didn't want to be involved. He said
police did come to talk to him and he voluntarily gave police a sample of
his DNA.
Paxton said he never owned a gun or motorcycle gloves, as Williams
claimed.
Paxton said he was selling dope in 2005, from February until he went to
jail that September. He is serving 8 years in prison for selling crack
cocaine in a drug-free zone.
Paxton said he dealt crack cocaine from his home and sold it to Williams
several times, but never saw him smoke it. Paxton said he never smoked
crack, but he did smoke marijuana every day and smoked it with Williams
often. "We were real close," he said of Williams. "He was a real good
friend of mine."
He said he was not confused about what Williams told him on the morning of
July 9, 2005, and said he had not smoked marijuana that morning. He said
there was no kind of "weed" that would make him forget that someone told
him that they murdered a man.
Paxton said Williams never asked about or showed any interest in Ms.
Schneider.
He said there came a time when he believed Williams may have been involved
in Ms. Schneider's murder, after not hearing any media reports about a
white man being stabbed and after hearing that the elderly woman had been
killed.
"The old woman didn't talk to nobody," he said. "She didn't fool with
nobody."
He and Ms. Barnes talked about it and became suspicious that Williams was
involved.
Paxton said he never burglarized any houses on Callahan Street and never
invited or forced anyone else to burglarize a house. He said he never
tried to convince anyone that Williams committed the crime. Paxton said he
had "nothing to do with" killing Ms. Schneider.
WILLIAMS TELLS OTHERS
Stella Barnes, Paxton's girlfriend, said they lived on Callahan Street
before they moved to Mike Street in February 2005. She said they met
Williams, whom she knew as "Crazy C," soon after they moved to Tyler from
Crockett in 2004 and saw him nearly every day.
She said that on Feb. 8, 2005, a Friday, she and Paxton and their children
stayed at home, and that she was awakened by Williams at her window at
about 8 a.m. Feb. 9, 2005. Williams said it was "an emergency." After the
2 men talked outside, they entered the apartment and Williams told her the
story about stabbing the white man. She said his hand was split open.
Williams told Ms. Barnes to tell his "baby" (his girlfriend Monica), that
he loved her and probably would never see her again, Ms. Barnes said.
When Ms Barnes asked Williams why he killed the man, he said he was
"fiending" and he did what he did to get money to buy crack. She said
later that week, she and Paxton began to suspect Williams of the killing
and she told Williams he was no longer welcome in her house. Ms. Barnes
said she didn't know why she didn't contact police.
Sharon Harris, Ms. Barnes' mother, testified that Williams visited her
house on Callahan Street often, at first when Ms. Barnes and Paxton lived
there, then continued to visit her niece Monica.
"He was just like a son to me, really," Ms. Harris said.
She said that on the morning of July 9, 2005, Ms. Barnes told her what
Williams had said. She said she asked Williams later if he had killed
someone and he didn't answer, but instead just shook his head. She said
that night, she became suspicious that Williams could have been involved
in her murder. She said she became scared of him but never called police
because she didn't want to get involved.
Ms. Harris said she told a next-door neighbor, Misty Winters, about what
Williams said.
Mrs. Winters' husband, Greg, ultimately called police.
Monica Porter, who said she began dating Williams nearly 3 months before
the murder, testified that she lived with her aunt, Ms. Harris, a few
houses down from Ms. Schneider at the time. She said she had been at
Williams' apartment since Thursday, July 7, 2005 by herself when Williams
called her at about 6 a.m. Saturday, July 9, 2005 and told her to get out
of the apartment right then. She walked to Ms. Harris' house, where
Williams showed up not "looking right."
Later, at Ms. Barnes' house, Ms. Barnes told Ms. Porter what Williams had
said, she said. Then Williams appeared and told her he shot a white man
after the man threatened him with a gun. Ms. Porter said she and Ms.
Barnes told Ms. Harris the story.
Ms. Porter, 32, said the last time she saw Williams was on July 15, 2005,
the night of his arrest. She said he came to her house but she didn't
answer the door because she was scared. She said she came to believe that
he killed Ms. Schneider, but it never crossed her mind to call police. She
said she loved Williams and still has feelings for him "in a way."
She said she smoked crack and marijuana with Williams about every other
day, but that it wasn't a "habit." She said she had been smoking crack
since she was 14 but didn't think she had "a problem."
Williams denied having a girlfriend to police.
Police have testified that Williams' blood and fingerprint were found in
Ms. Schneider's car, which was wrecked on Greenbriar Road. During an
interview, Williams led police to the discarded knife they believed was
used to stab Ms. Schneider, as well as the victim's purse.
The trial is set to resume Thursday in 114th District Judge Cynthia
Stevens Kent's court. Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham and
First Assistant DA April Sikes are prosecuting the case, while defense
attorneys Melvin Thompson and LaJuanda Lacy are representing Williams.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)
A man accused by capital murder defendant Clifton Lamar Williams for
killing a 93-year-old Tyler woman testified Wednesday, denying any
involvement in the slaying.
Smith County jurors heard the seventh day of the state's evidence against
Williams, 22, who faces the death penalty if convicted of beating,
strangling and stabbing to death Cecelia Schneider before setting her body
on fire on July 9, 2005.
Williams told police that Jamarist "Monterrall" Paxton really killed Ms.
Schneider and forced him to go along, to cut himself to leave his DNA in
her house at 311 Callahan St., and to drive her stolen car.
Paxton, 18, said he did not kill Ms. Schneider, take anything that
belonged to her or drive her car.
He testified that he met Williams shortly after he moved to Tyler in 2004,
when Paxton was living on Callahan Street. He said he knew Ms. Schneider
lived a few houses down and would see her outside her house, but didn't
know her.
He said he didn't see Williams on July 8, 2005, but said Williams came to
his apartment, on Mike Street, early Saturday morning, at about 5 a.m. He
said Williams told him, "Man, I just messed up. I just killed somebody."
Williams told Paxton that he got into a fight and stabbed an "old" white
man in North Tyler, took his vehicle and purposely wrecked it. He said he
didn't believe Williams would do that. He said Williams showed him a cut
on hishand and he had blood on his clothes.
"I just didn't think he would do nothing like that ...," he said, adding
that he never saw Williams act violently.
Paxton said he got Williams to tell his girlfriend, Stella Barnes.
Williams slept at their apartment for a couple of hours and then left,
before returning later that day and several times that week.
Sometime before Williams was arrested, Paxton said he told Greg Winters,
his former neighbor on Callahan Street, when he asked him about it. He
said he told Winters about what "Crazy C" told him, but he didn't tell
anyone else or go to police because he didn't want to be involved. He said
police did come to talk to him and he voluntarily gave police a sample of
his DNA.
Paxton said he never owned a gun or motorcycle gloves, as Williams
claimed.
Paxton said he was selling dope in 2005, from February until he went to
jail that September. He is serving 8 years in prison for selling crack
cocaine in a drug-free zone.
Paxton said he dealt crack cocaine from his home and sold it to Williams
several times, but never saw him smoke it. Paxton said he never smoked
crack, but he did smoke marijuana every day and smoked it with Williams
often. "We were real close," he said of Williams. "He was a real good
friend of mine."
He said he was not confused about what Williams told him on the morning of
July 9, 2005, and said he had not smoked marijuana that morning. He said
there was no kind of "weed" that would make him forget that someone told
him that they murdered a man.
Paxton said Williams never asked about or showed any interest in Ms.
Schneider.
He said there came a time when he believed Williams may have been involved
in Ms. Schneider's murder, after not hearing any media reports about a
white man being stabbed and after hearing that the elderly woman had been
killed.
"The old woman didn't talk to nobody," he said. "She didn't fool with
nobody."
He and Ms. Barnes talked about it and became suspicious that Williams was
involved.
Paxton said he never burglarized any houses on Callahan Street and never
invited or forced anyone else to burglarize a house. He said he never
tried to convince anyone that Williams committed the crime. Paxton said he
had "nothing to do with" killing Ms. Schneider.
WILLIAMS TELLS OTHERS
Stella Barnes, Paxton's girlfriend, said they lived on Callahan Street
before they moved to Mike Street in February 2005. She said they met
Williams, whom she knew as "Crazy C," soon after they moved to Tyler from
Crockett in 2004 and saw him nearly every day.
She said that on Feb. 8, 2005, a Friday, she and Paxton and their children
stayed at home, and that she was awakened by Williams at her window at
about 8 a.m. Feb. 9, 2005. Williams said it was "an emergency." After the
2 men talked outside, they entered the apartment and Williams told her the
story about stabbing the white man. She said his hand was split open.
Williams told Ms. Barnes to tell his "baby" (his girlfriend Monica), that
he loved her and probably would never see her again, Ms. Barnes said.
When Ms Barnes asked Williams why he killed the man, he said he was
"fiending" and he did what he did to get money to buy crack. She said
later that week, she and Paxton began to suspect Williams of the killing
and she told Williams he was no longer welcome in her house. Ms. Barnes
said she didn't know why she didn't contact police.
Sharon Harris, Ms. Barnes' mother, testified that Williams visited her
house on Callahan Street often, at first when Ms. Barnes and Paxton lived
there, then continued to visit her niece Monica.
"He was just like a son to me, really," Ms. Harris said.
She said that on the morning of July 9, 2005, Ms. Barnes told her what
Williams had said. She said she asked Williams later if he had killed
someone and he didn't answer, but instead just shook his head. She said
that night, she became suspicious that Williams could have been involved
in her murder. She said she became scared of him but never called police
because she didn't want to get involved.
Ms. Harris said she told a next-door neighbor, Misty Winters, about what
Williams said.
Mrs. Winters' husband, Greg, ultimately called police.
Monica Porter, who said she began dating Williams nearly 3 months before
the murder, testified that she lived with her aunt, Ms. Harris, a few
houses down from Ms. Schneider at the time. She said she had been at
Williams' apartment since Thursday, July 7, 2005 by herself when Williams
called her at about 6 a.m. Saturday, July 9, 2005 and told her to get out
of the apartment right then. She walked to Ms. Harris' house, where
Williams showed up not "looking right."
Later, at Ms. Barnes' house, Ms. Barnes told Ms. Porter what Williams had
said, she said. Then Williams appeared and told her he shot a white man
after the man threatened him with a gun. Ms. Porter said she and Ms.
Barnes told Ms. Harris the story.
Ms. Porter, 32, said the last time she saw Williams was on July 15, 2005,
the night of his arrest. She said he came to her house but she didn't
answer the door because she was scared. She said she came to believe that
he killed Ms. Schneider, but it never crossed her mind to call police. She
said she loved Williams and still has feelings for him "in a way."
She said she smoked crack and marijuana with Williams about every other
day, but that it wasn't a "habit." She said she had been smoking crack
since she was 14 but didn't think she had "a problem."
Williams denied having a girlfriend to police.
Police have testified that Williams' blood and fingerprint were found in
Ms. Schneider's car, which was wrecked on Greenbriar Road. During an
interview, Williams led police to the discarded knife they believed was
used to stab Ms. Schneider, as well as the victim's purse.
The trial is set to resume Thursday in 114th District Judge Cynthia
Stevens Kent's court. Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham and
First Assistant DA April Sikes are prosecuting the case, while defense
attorneys Melvin Thompson and LaJuanda Lacy are representing Williams.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)