CLEARFIELD – A motion for a new trial for a Morrisdale woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her husband has been denied.
In June, a jury determined that Kimberly Sue Williams, 48, was guilty of both involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person in relation to Ronald Williams Jr.’s death from a gunshot wound to the head on March 14, 2019.
She was acquitted of first- and third-degree murder.
Testimony presented at the trial indicated that Ronald Williams was depressed and obsessed with death after he became bedridden following a stroke.
The commonwealth’s position was that it was actually his wife who pulled the trigger.
In October, she was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 302 days to 604 days in the county jail, which is the time she served while awaiting trial, plus three years probation.
Shortly after this, her attorney, Steven Trialonas, filed several post-sentence motions. One of his issues is that there was no evidence of involuntary manslaughter or for her being reckless. He asked that she be acquitted of these two charges or have a new trial on just these charges.
In an opinion filed yesterday, Ammerman pointed out that during the trial even though the prosecution was focused on proving she had killed her husband, there was also evidence that he had “previously pointed a gun at her, had previously intentionally shot a gun in the house and had previously lost control of a loaded gun, causing the victim to shoot a hole in their living room wall.
“Likewise, defendant relayed that she had previously taken a loaded gun away from the victim when he was having a bad day because she did not feel that he should have a gun in his possession.”
In addition, the weekend prior to his death, his daughter took a gun from him “because she was scared of his behavior.”
Because the defense’s theory was that Ronald Williams died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, several witnesses mentioned that he was severely depressed and had previously been involuntarily committed for suicidal attempts. They also said he used regularly threatened suicide “as a means of manipulation.”
Kimberly Williams herself told police that her husband “would tell her which gun he wanted and she would bring it to him knowing they were loaded. At times, defendant would even load the guns for the victim if he was unable.”
All of this leads to the jury concluding that she was grossly negligent when she gave him a loaded gun and was responsible for his death, and so Ammerman denied the motion for acquittal and the request for a new trial.
During the trial, the prosecution produced evidence that Ronald Williams Jr. sent a message just hours before his death, saying if something happened to him that an autopsy should be done and he wanted to change his will, which benefited his wife who was due to inherit over one million dollars from a trust fund set up for his care.
Physical evidence in the case included traces of gun powder residue on Kimberly Williams’s hand while Ronald Williams Jr. had none, not even in the wound.
There was also no blood on the barrel of the gun, and a pathologist determined that the shot in the head that killed Ronald Williams Jr. came from further away than the length of Ronald Williams Jr.’s arm.