Following marathon deliberations that lasted more than 14 hours over two days, a New Kensington man was found not guilty of first-degree murder while the jury failed to reach a verdict on remaining counts that included allegations he shot and killed another man during a botched robbery four years ago.
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears declared a mistrial on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and robbery against Latresse Williams, 33, who was charged with the fatal Jan. 15, 2020, shooting of Anthone Williams of Arnold.
Anthone Williams, no relation to the accused shooter, was shot three times as he sat in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle in front of an abandoned housing project in New Kensington.
“This is honestly the hardest working jury I’ve had in five years,” Mears said. “This is the way the system is supposed to work.”
Deliberations started late Thursday afternoon, were suspended shortly before 11 p.m. and resumed Friday morning when the jury almost immediately signaled it struggled to reach a verdict. A note was sent from the jury room that claimed the panel had deadlocked on all but one count, with 11 of the 12 jurors favoring conviction on the remaining charges.
The foreperson’s note alleged the holdout juror was biased and asked for that person to be removed from the panel. Mears questioned the juror, rejected the bias claim and ordered deliberations to continue.
After several more hours of deliberations, the jury again sent word it was deadlocked.
“One juror refuses to accept expert testimony on the DNA evidence no matter how we explain what the documents state. … One juror is picking the side of the defendant and refusing the evidence presented in fact to the jury,” according the jury foreperson.
Latresse Williams was charged after DNA was found on the suspected murder weapon that recovered by police in woods near where the body was discovered. His cellphone, which also contained his DNA, was recovered in the vehicle with Anthone Williams’ body, according to testimony during the four-day trial.
A former girlfriend testified that Latresse Williams confessed to the killing.
Defense attorney Tim Dawson argued for an acquittal. He suggested prosecutors could not prove Latresse Williams was one of the two men at the murder scene. There were no eyewitnesses to the killing, he told jurors.
“We are pleased with the verdict in which he was acquitted of the most serious charge,” Dawson said. “The system works.”
Prosecutors contended Latresse Williams, on the strength of DNA evidence, a confession and other circumstantial evidence, was one of two men who shot Anthone Williams during an attempt to steal drugs and money.
A second shooter remains uncharged and unidentified.
Williams denied he participated in the fatal shooting. He testified that he sold the suspected murder weapon and his cellphone to another man weeks before the killing.
Anthone Williams’ family members decried the trial’s outcome.
“We wanted closure,” said Anthone Williams’ sister, Felicia Williams. “Anthone was a loving father who helped everyone and everyone. He is being portrayed as being a person who he was not.”
Still faces 2 trials
Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro said the prosecution is expected to retry Latresse Williams on the remaining charges, with a tentative start date in August.
Williams will continue to be held in custody without bond.
He is also awaiting trial on four counts of attempted homicide in connection with allegations he shot at a parked vehicle in early December 2019 in New Kensington. Prosecutors contend the same gun used in the homicide was fired at the van in which three women were in and another person was outside the vehicle.
Williams during his testimony in the murder trial conceded he possessed the suspected murder weapon used in the van shooting. Prosecutors claim ballistics evidence suggests Williams’ gun was used in both shootings.
No trial date for the attempted homicide case has been set.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.