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Home News Injustice in Ohio Jury weighs death penalty in Williams case Jury weighs death penalty in Williams case
Thursday, 13 March 2008
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 12:48 p.m. EDT, Mar 12, 2008
A Summit County jury began deliberations this afternoon on a possible death sentence for convicted murderer Cameron Darnell Williams.
Williams, 35, was convicted on Feb. 29 of two counts of aggravated murder and other offenses for the slaying of Darian Polk, 28, of Akron.
Polk was shot once in the chest just seconds after Williams broke into a Barberton apartment and found his ex-wife in bed with the victim last summer, according to trial testimony.
If the jury cannot unanimously agree on the death penalty, the panel can sentence Williams to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, life without the possibility of parole for 30 years, or life with no parole.
Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter is hearing the case. Under Ohio law, a jury can only recommend a death sentence. A judge has final authority to impose it.
The shooting occurred at about 7:30 a.m. on July 28 at an Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment on Illinois Place in the Van Buren Homes project.
In closing arguments this morning, defense lawyer Kerry O'Brien told the jury that Williams does not deserve the death penalty because he acted out of provocation and rage when he came upon the scene in the upstairs bedroom of the apartment.
''He did it,'' O'Brien said, ''because everything he thought was his entire future was being taken away from him.''
Williams and his ex-wife, Tamara Hughes, had a son together during an on-off relationship that Williams felt was on the rise after they bought rings at an area pawn shop three months before the fatal shooting.
But Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Mike Carroll told the jury: ''The only provocation is that which (Williams) brought upon himself.''
Trial evidence and testimony showed Williams was on parole at the time of the shooting, was banned from all AMHA property and was under court orders prohibiting any contact with his ex-wife.
A Summit County jury began deliberations this afternoon on a possible death sentence for convicted murderer Cameron Darnell Williams.
Williams, 35, was convicted on Feb. 29 of two counts of aggravated murder and other offenses for the slaying of Darian Polk, 28, of Akron.
Polk was shot once in the chest just seconds after Williams broke into a Barberton apartment and found his ex-wife in bed with the victim last summer, according to trial testimony.
If the jury cannot unanimously agree on the death penalty, the panel can sentence Williams to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, life without the possibility of parole for 30 years, or life with no parole.
Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter is hearing the case. Under Ohio law, a jury can only recommend a death sentence. A judge has final authority to impose it.
The shooting occurred at about 7:30 a.m. on July 28 at an Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment on Illinois Place in the Van Buren Homes project.
In closing arguments this morning, defense lawyer Kerry O'Brien told the jury that Williams does not deserve the death penalty because he acted out of provocation and rage when he came upon the scene in the upstairs bedroom of the apartment.
''He did it,'' O'Brien said, ''because everything he thought was his entire future was being taken away from him.''
Williams and his ex-wife, Tamara Hughes, had a son together during an on-off relationship that Williams felt was on the rise after they bought rings at an area pawn shop three months before the fatal shooting.
But Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Mike Carroll told the jury: ''The only provocation is that which (Williams) brought upon himself.''
Trial evidence and testimony showed Williams was on parole at the time of the shooting, was banned from all AMHA property and was under court orders prohibiting any contact with his ex-wife.