A former soldier who brutally murdered his 5-year-old daughter on military property in Hawaii may face the death penalty even though Hawaii abolished capital punishment decades ago, the New York Daily News reports.
A federal jury on Thursday found Naeem Williams guilty of beating to death his daughter Talia in July 2005. Beginning Tuesday, jurors will decide whether to sentence Williams to death. Although Hawaii abolished capital punishment in 1957, the federal death penalty still exists and Williams committed the crime on military property.
Williams was found guilty of five charges, murder, aiding murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements, in the brutal death of Talia, who was killed in July 2005. Williams’ wife at the time and Talia’s stepmother, Delilah Williams, also was charged with murder. She testifed for the prosecution as part of a plea deal that calls for a 20-year prison term.
The nearly two-month-long trial was filled with graphic testimony regarding the abuse leading up to Talia’s death.
Source: The Root | STEPHEN A. CROCKETT JR.
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