Andrew Wesley Williams | Homicide Watch DC

Andrew Williams Found Innocent for Shooting Death of Junon Snead

Kristian Hernandez — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:55:58 -0400

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.

In Closing Arguments, Attorneys Describe Disagreement that Led to Junon Snead's Death

Megan Arellano — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 22:09:33 -0400

As Andrew Wesley Williams' murder trial came to a close Wednesday, defense attorney Kevin Irving asked jurors whether they could trust the testimony of security guards who detained a man for loitering but failed to follow up on a murder in the same night.

But prosecutors say this is "no mass conspiracy," instead, they say, evidence proves that Junon Tyree Snead was shot by Williams from less than three feet away as he turned to walk home because Snead refused to retaliate against the guards who detained their friend that night.

Williams, 27, is charged with first-degree murder while armed and three related weapons charges in connection with Snead’s death.

Police found 30-year-old Snead on May 14, 2011 around 5:50 a.m. crumpled on a sidewalk in the 3700 block of Jay Street Northeast, dead from a single gunshot wound.

Prosecutors claim that Williams and Snead both saw three security guards detain Antonio White in a parking lot around 2 a.m. after a group of men had been loitering there, and both men spoke out at the officers. But later, frustrated in a nearby playground, prosecutors say surveillance video shows a man matching Williams shift his anger to Snead before shooting him.

During trial, Antoine White told jurors that he returned to the parking lot that night when Williams asked him to retrieve his cell phone. Then special police officers working for the apartment complex put handcuffs on him, took his driver's license and kept him against their vehicle for 10 to 15 minutes, said White.

Eventually, the special police officers released White and Snead joined the five men in a nearby playground. According to White's grand jury testimony, Williams began asking Snead, "Where is your gun at?" and, "So are we going to do this?"

White said in the grand jury that he saw Williams had a gun earlier that day.

In his grand jury testimony, White said Williams sounded pretty angry at the time and said Williams was "trigger happy." According to White, Snead responded, "Nah it's not worth it--we're on camera and everything."

Then, White said he left because his ride arrived.

Jury deliberations are scheduled to begin Thursday.

Additional reporting by Kristian Hernandez.

Trial Begins for Andrew Williams in Shooting Death of Junon Snead

Megan Arellano — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 20:42:28 -0400

Prosecutors say that Andrew Wesley Williams was mad at three special police officers who handcuffed his friend before Williams, angry, shot Junon Tyree Snead.

But Williams' defense attorney Kevin Irving argued that prosecutors lack physical evidence and witness testimony to prove Williams was the shooter. Instead, Irving says the rests entirely on "similar clothing" and "looks like" to prove that Williams is the man in the video who shot Snead.

Police found 30-year-old Snead on May 14, 2011, in the 3700 block of Jay Street Northeast suffering from a single gunshot wound. Williams, 27, is charged with first-degree murder while armed and three related weapons charges in connection with Snead's death.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Reagan Taylor told jurors in opening statements Monday that Williams was hanging out in a parking lot with other men that night when special police officers drove into the lot and chased the men out. One of the men, William's friend, was stopped and put in handcuffs, Taylor said. Then, according to Taylor, some of the men returned to the lot and were angry that their friend had been stopped.

Snead was also in the parking lot that night on his bike, according to Taylor, and he too was angry that the other man was detained. Like Williams, Snead left the parking lot and went to the playground area, Taylor said.

But when the men returned to the playground area, Taylor said Williams got "trigger-happy" during an argument with Snead and shot him once in the head. The shooting was captured on video and multiple witnesses later identified Williams as wearing the same clothes as the shooter, Taylor said.

Irving says that playground trash tested for DNA excludes Williams from having touched material analyzed from the playground and that no gun linked to Snead's death was ever found.

"No matter how many witnesses get on the stand and try to speculate about who it is, that will not answer who shot Junon Snead," Irving said.

Larnell Mills testified on Monday that he was working the overnight shift as a special police officer in the Mayfair Mansions complex that night. He told jurors that he and his two partners drove up to a group of six to nine black males in a parking lot at around 2 a.m., and all of the men fled the area.

Shortly after, Mills said that one of the men returned and Mills "stopped him and patted him down," for a "couple of minutes", Mills said. Then, according to Mills, three other men returned and were "disorderly," telling Mills he didn't have a right to detain the man.

Later that night, Mills said that he heard a gunshot, so he exited the security building to "look in the general area." Mills told jurors that he wasn't watching the security cameras when the shot occurred, he didn't call 911, nor did he patrol the apartment complex afterwards.

The next day, Mills said he received a call from his supervisor alerting him that a shooting happened. After reviewing video of the playground, Mills said he recognized the shooter wearing the gray sweatshirt as one of the men who returned to the parking lot. When Mills later saw the MPD poster showing Snead, Mills said that was another one of the men who returned to the parking lot that night.

The trial is scheduled to resume at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Andrew Williams Released From Jail, Trial Postponed

Megan Arellano — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:57:44 -0400

The murder trial against Andrew Williams, which was expected to begin jury selection this week, has been postponed until November because prosecutors have not been able to subpoena a witness who they believe is very important to the government's case.

In the meantime, Williams, 25, has been released from jail and placed in a high intensity supervision program which allows him to continue serving probation for two unrelated offenses. Court documents say he has been ordered to live at a residence in Maryland.

Williams is charged with first-degree murder while armed and related weapons offenses in connection with the 2011 shooting death of 30-year-old Junon Tyree Snead. A new trial date has been scheduled for November 18. A status hearing in the case is scheduled for September 27.

Release documents are below.

Andrew Williams Release Order (PDF)Andrew Williams Release Order (Text)

Andrew Williams Release Conditions (PDF)Andrew Williams Release Conditions (Text)

Andrew Williams Charged in Shooting Death of Junon Snead

Jonah Newman — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:38:01 -0400

Andrew Wesley Williams, a Northeast DC man also known as "Drew" and "Barbershop," pleaded innocent Sept. 13 in the shooting death of Junon Tyree Snead last May.

Williams, 25, was charged Sept. 5 with four counts, including first-degree murder while armed and three weapons charges.

Snead, 30, was killed on May 14 in Northeast DC. According to MPD, the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head. The murder was caught on surveillance tape, which shows Snead engaged in conversation with someone. The person in the video swings at Snead, who backs away, but the person pursues him and then shoots him.

Williams was arrested on Dec. 27. He is scheduled to appear in court next on Jan. 9 for a status hearing. The trial has been set for June 10 before Judge Ronna Beck.

The charging documents are after the jump.

Probable Cause Found in Case Against Andrew Williams

Laura Amico — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:40:27 -0500

Andrew Williams, a Northeast DC man known as "Drew" and "Barbershop," was ordered held today on probable cause in the shooting death of Junon Snead.

Snead, 30, was killed in May. In court Monday, Detective Robert Arrington said Snead was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.

Williams is suspected of first-degree premeditated murder while armed in connection with the case.

Arrington testified that the afternoon Snead was killed Williams was in a group of men drinking in an apartment complex parking lot and was involved in an altercation with the apartment's security.

The government's case is based in part on surveillance video from the apartment complex which shows Snead and another person engaged in a discussion. The person swings at Snead, who backs away, but the person pursues him, then raises his arm, points a gun at Snead, and fires.

Witnesses to the early altercation between Williams and security guards, who also reviewed the video, said the person firing the gun appeared to be wearing the same clothing that Williams was wearing earlier that afternoon.

When Williams was arrested, Arrington said, a 9mm handgun was found in a jacket in the apartment he was in. Ballistics tests to compare that handgun to the bullet that killed Snead are underway, Arrington said.

Andrew Williams Held in Playground Shooting of Junon Snead

Laura Amico — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:12:31 -0500

A playground shooting that killed Junon Snead in May was captured on surveillance video from a nearby apartment building.

That video was used, in part, by detectives to arrest Andrew Williams on suspicion of first-degree murder while armed Tuesday. Williams appeared in court Wednesday to be presented with the charge. He was ordered held pending a preliminary hearing.

According to charging documents in the case, the surveillance video shows Snead and another person engaged in a discussion. The person swings at Snead, who backs away, but the shooter pursues him, then raises his arm, points a gun at Snead, and fires.

Snead was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been shot in the head.

The accounts of four witnesses were included in the charging documents. Two of them said Williams was among a group of men who were hanging out in the apartment building's parking lot and drinking. The descriptions witnesses gave of Williams matched how the shooter appeared in the building's surveillance video. One witness said Williams was upset that the security guard had confronted him and the others and he talked about shooting the security guard.

The documents do not say whether or not Snead was a security guard.

Williams is due back in court Jan. 6 at 11 a.m.

Read the charging documents below.

Andrew Williams Arrested in May Shooting Death of Junon Snead

Laura Amico — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:29:52 -0500

A Northeast DC man was arrested today in connection with the shooting death of Junon Tyree Snead.

Andrew Wesley Williams, 25, is suspected of first-degree murder while armed, MPD said.

Snead was killed May 14 in Northeast DC.

MPD's press release is below.

December 27, 2011

Arrest Made in the Homicide in the 3700 Block of Jay Street, NE

(Washington, DC)-Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch have announced an arrest has been made in the fatal shooting which occurred in the 3700 block of Jay Street, NE.

On Saturday, May 14, 2011 at approximately 5:50 am, units from the Sixth District responded to the 3700 block of Jay Street, NE. Upon their arrival they found an adult male victim suffering from a gunshot wound. Personnel from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded and the victim was pronounced dead on the scene by a member of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia.

The decedent is identified as 30 year-old Junon Tyree Snead of NE, Washington, DC.

On Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at approximately 10:05 am, members from the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 25 year-old Andrew Wesley Williams of NE, Washington, DC, pursuant to a DC Superior Court warrant charging him with Murder One while Armed.