Williams murder case goes to jury
By Dolly A. Butz Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, August 01, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- Jeremy Williams' fate is in the hands of a Woodbury County jury, which started deliberating Thursday afternoon on charges of first-degree murder, robbery and kidnapping in the Jan. 15 slaying of Zachary Cooper.
The jury retired for the night without reaching a verdict and will reconvene at 9 a.m. today.
Williams, 24, of Sioux City. is accused of shooting Cooper, 23, also of Sioux City on a rural road in Lawton, Iowa. A coyote hunter found his body two days later.
Samuel Montez Wright, 31, of Sioux City faces identical charges as Williams and is scheduled to go to trial next month.
If convicted as charged, both men would face automatic sentences of life in prison without parole.
Material witness Ray Kelvin Dukes, who said he was standing next to Wright at the time of the shooting, testified earlier in the trial that Williams shot Cooper in the back as Cooper kneeled in front of Williams' car just off 170th Street near Franklin Avenue in Lawton. Dukes said he believes Wright then shot Cooper in the head.
Nicolas Daniel Perez, 20, Cooper's friend and another material witness, said he saw Wright shoot Cooper in the chest, and then saw him hand the gun to Williams. Perez testified earlier this week that Williams shot Cooper, but he said he didn't know where because Cooper was out of his sight.
Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Terry Ganzel told the jury during closing arguments Thursday that the defendant has different versions of what happened on that rural road. He said Williams told police that Wright and Dukes shot Cooper but later said that Wright and Dukes shot Cooper and then made him shoot Cooper. Williams told a deputy that when he fired the shot, he missed, Ganzel said.
"Perez remembers the important thing, that he saw the defendant shoot Zachary Cooper, and that's what it all boils down to," Ganzel said.
Williams' attorney, Priscilla Forsyth, said Dukes isn't telling the truth and that Perez is mistaken about what he saw.
"The state presents witnesses who don't agree," she said. "Isn't that a doubt right there?"
She said Cooper's exit wounds do not match Dukes' story about Cooper kneeling in front of the car and her client holding out a gun and shooting him in the back.
Ganzel said Williams was angry with Cooper for threatening his family. When Cooper went to an apartment at 710 18th St. regarding a drug deal, Ganzel said, Wright pulled a gun on him and then Williams struck him several times. Cooper was removed from the apartment at gunpoint and placed in the back seat of Williams' car. Williams drove Cooper, Wright, Dukes and Perez to the scene of the shooting, according to Ganzel.
Ganzel said the state Division of Criminal Investigation discovered blood in Williams' car and on his coat sleeve matching Cooper's DNA. A bullet entrance wound on Cooper's back, Ganzel said, supports Dukes' testimony that Williams shot him in the back.
"He's guilty under theory A, theory B, theory C and theory D of murder in the first degree," Ganzel said.
Forsyth said the one thing that has never changed in Williams' story is that he "did not shoot that boy." She said her client had no reason to be "seething" about Cooper threatening his family because he didn't know his family or where they lived. Wright, however, did know Williams' family, she said.
The murder wasn't carefully planned, according to Forsyth. She said the situation escalated when Wright pulled up Cooper's shirt and mistook an anarchy symbol tattoo for an anti-Christ symbol.
"This is Samuel Wright flipping out," she said. "That's consistent with everyone's testimony that that's why he wanted to shoot him."
The jury retired for the night without reaching a verdict and will reconvene at 9 a.m. today.
Williams, 24, of Sioux City. is accused of shooting Cooper, 23, also of Sioux City on a rural road in Lawton, Iowa. A coyote hunter found his body two days later.
Samuel Montez Wright, 31, of Sioux City faces identical charges as Williams and is scheduled to go to trial next month.
If convicted as charged, both men would face automatic sentences of life in prison without parole.
Material witness Ray Kelvin Dukes, who said he was standing next to Wright at the time of the shooting, testified earlier in the trial that Williams shot Cooper in the back as Cooper kneeled in front of Williams' car just off 170th Street near Franklin Avenue in Lawton. Dukes said he believes Wright then shot Cooper in the head.
Nicolas Daniel Perez, 20, Cooper's friend and another material witness, said he saw Wright shoot Cooper in the chest, and then saw him hand the gun to Williams. Perez testified earlier this week that Williams shot Cooper, but he said he didn't know where because Cooper was out of his sight.
Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Terry Ganzel told the jury during closing arguments Thursday that the defendant has different versions of what happened on that rural road. He said Williams told police that Wright and Dukes shot Cooper but later said that Wright and Dukes shot Cooper and then made him shoot Cooper. Williams told a deputy that when he fired the shot, he missed, Ganzel said.
"Perez remembers the important thing, that he saw the defendant shoot Zachary Cooper, and that's what it all boils down to," Ganzel said.
Williams' attorney, Priscilla Forsyth, said Dukes isn't telling the truth and that Perez is mistaken about what he saw.
"The state presents witnesses who don't agree," she said. "Isn't that a doubt right there?"
She said Cooper's exit wounds do not match Dukes' story about Cooper kneeling in front of the car and her client holding out a gun and shooting him in the back.
Ganzel said Williams was angry with Cooper for threatening his family. When Cooper went to an apartment at 710 18th St. regarding a drug deal, Ganzel said, Wright pulled a gun on him and then Williams struck him several times. Cooper was removed from the apartment at gunpoint and placed in the back seat of Williams' car. Williams drove Cooper, Wright, Dukes and Perez to the scene of the shooting, according to Ganzel.
Ganzel said the state Division of Criminal Investigation discovered blood in Williams' car and on his coat sleeve matching Cooper's DNA. A bullet entrance wound on Cooper's back, Ganzel said, supports Dukes' testimony that Williams shot him in the back.
"He's guilty under theory A, theory B, theory C and theory D of murder in the first degree," Ganzel said.
Forsyth said the one thing that has never changed in Williams' story is that he "did not shoot that boy." She said her client had no reason to be "seething" about Cooper threatening his family because he didn't know his family or where they lived. Wright, however, did know Williams' family, she said.
The murder wasn't carefully planned, according to Forsyth. She said the situation escalated when Wright pulled up Cooper's shirt and mistook an anarchy symbol tattoo for an anti-Christ symbol.
"This is Samuel Wright flipping out," she said. "That's consistent with everyone's testimony that that's why he wanted to shoot him."
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not so sure wrote on Aug 1, 2008 2:36 PM:
unknown wrote on Aug 1, 2008 7:20 AM: