After nearly two-and-a-half years of being suspected in the shooting death of Junon Snead, Andrew Williams was found innocent Thursday by jurors after less than one day of deliberations.
Williams was acquitted of charges of first-degree murder while armed, and the lesser-included charge of second-degree murder while armed. He was found guilty of two weapons charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm, and Williams will remain held until his sentencing date in August for those charges.
“What else could we ask for but the truth,” said Williams’ older brother, Ali Moore, after the verdict was read, “They have it on tape, he wasn’t the shooter.”
During the two day trial, attorneys argued that surveillance video showed a man who wearing a gray hoodie shooting Snead on a nearby playground. The only person described as wearing a gray hoodie that night was Williams, prosecutors say.
At trial, Antonio White testified that Williams was carrying a 9-millimeter gun that day, and that he later saw Snead and Williams in a confrontation, but said he did not see the shooting that killed Snead. Prosecutors also argued security guards who heard the shooting that night saw Williams thirty minutes earlier wearing a gray hoodie.
“It’s been two-and-a-half years that he’s been away from his family and his son,” Moore said, “Now he’s going to do time for a gun he didn’t even have.”
The mandatory sentencing minimum for unlawful possession of a firearm is one year; the maximum sentence is 10 years.
Williams is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Rhonda Winston at 9:00 a.m. on Aug. 12.
