A jury in 1986 found Williams guilty of brutally beating Amos Norwood to death with a tire iron in 1984. He was sentenced to death and set to be executed at SCI-Rockview in Centre County on Wednesday.
Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Friday prosecutors suppressed evidence suggesting that Williams’ victim was an alleged pedophile who abused boys, including Williams. However, Sarmina upheld Williams’ first-degree murder conviction.
Williams’ lawyers say police and prosecutors withheld evidence of a sexual link between him and victim Amos Norwood, so the jury never heard about it before voting for a death sentence.
Philadelphia prosecutors deny any wrongdoing in the 1986 trial. Williams would be the first person executed involuntarily in Pennsylvania since 1962.
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