7-year-old testifies she saw man shoot her father and grandmother near DeLand
A 7-year-old girl testified Tuesday in a double-murder trial, recalling the day she said she saw a man shoot her father and grandmother.
Michael Williams, 48, is on trial charged with two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm in the killings of his ex-wife, Marsha Williams, 48, and her son, Robert Adams, 28.
An eight-member jury, including two alternates, began hearing testimony Tuesday in Circuit Judge Randell Rowe III's courtroom at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.
Williams and his ex-wife were still living in the home on East Parkway near DeLand but under the terms of the divorce, Marsha Williams had until the end of 2022 to either sell the home and split the proceeds with her ex-husband or buy him out.
But they never made it to that point. Instead, Michael Williams gunned down his ex-wife and her son on the night of Sept. 18, 2022, a prosecutor stated. Robert Adams' two small children, a boy and a girl, 5 and 6 at the time, were also in the East Parkway home east of DeLand during the shooting.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Interlicchio said in his opening statement Tuesday that despite knowing he had to share the house with his ex-wife and knowing that small children were staying there at the time, Williams changed the locks on the home that day. He also shut off the electricity and put a padlock on the breaker box. Then Williams drove to Orlando.
When Marsha Williams, Adams and the two children returned to the home, they could not get inside, so they called a locksmith, who changed the lock and helped the family cut the lock on the breaker box.
Once the family was back inside, Michael Williams received an alert from alarm company ADT that someone was in the house. Interlicchio said Michael Williams drove back from Orlando in a rage that his plan had been foiled and shot the two family members dead.
Interlicchio said Marsha Williams and Adams were each shot once in the shoulder and once in the face. He said their bodies were then moved.
A photo showed Adams' head resting against his mother's body on a bloody floor.
Assistant Public Defender Courtney Davison gave a starkly different account to the jury.
Davison told jurors that Michael Williams was being picked on by the others and made to feel like an unwanted guest in his own home. She said lights were left on all the time and there were cooking noise at all times, keeping him from sleeping.
She said that before leaving to Orlando that day, Michael Williams turned the power off and locked the breaker box. When he got the alert from ADT, he was concerned so he returned home.
Davison said when he arrived Marsha Williams and Adams would not allow him into the house, blocking his way. She said they then attacked Michael Williams.
Davison said that Marsha Williams pinned Michael Williams down while Adams beat him. Davison said that at one point Adams reached for Michael Williams' gun.
Davison said Michael Williams had no choice but to use his gun in self-defense to stop the attack.
Girl testifies she saw shooting
The little girl was not much taller than the low wall that separates the gallery from the attorneys, judges and jury in the courtroom. She wore her hair in a bun.
When she was asked to give her name to the jury, she did and she smiled and waved at the jurors. Some of the jurors waved back.
The girl said she had gone to church with her father, brother and grandmother that Sunday. When they returned, she was eating chicken nuggets in the living room.
Interlicchio asked her what happened when Michael Williams arrived.
“Michael pulled out a gun,” the girl said in a soft voice.
Interlicchio asked her if Williams pointed the gun at anyone.
“At my dad,” the girl said.
Interlicchio asked if she heard a gunshot and she said yes.
“Who shot your dad?” Interlicchio asked.
“Michael,” she said.
The girl said Williams then shot Marsha Williams.
The girl said she then went into a bedroom but she heard her father call for help.
She said she tried to go to her father but Williams told her to go back to her room. She went back in her room with her little brother.
She said the next person she saw in the room was law enforcement.
Assistant Public Defender Jessica Roberts questioned the girl, asking if her father, Marsha Williams and Michael Williams had all started the fight. The girl said yes.
Roberts asked her if she knew what gunshots sounded like and she said no. Roberts reminded the girl about talking to her in a deposition about gunshots sounding like fireworks.
Roberts asked her whether she had heard any gunshots that day and the girl said no.
The trial continues this week.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida girl, 7, testifies she saw man shoot father and grandmother
