Updated at 12:47 p.m., Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Stepmother pleads guilty in death of 5-year-old girl
Advertiser Staff
The stepmother of a 5-year-old girl who was beaten to death last year on Schofield Barracks pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree felony murder this morning.Delilah S. Williams, 23, admitted in federal court this morning to an intentional "pattern and practice" of assault that resulted in the death of 5-year-old Talia Williams.
If U.S. magistrate judge David A. Ezra accepts the plea agreement, Williams faces 20 years in prison, up to five years probation, up to a $250,000 fine and a $100 assessment fee.
A superseding indictment filed Oct. 12 in U.S. district court charged Talia's father, Naeem J. Williams, 26, with two counts of first-degree felony murder and Delilah Williams with one count of first-degree felony murder.
Naeem Williams faces the potential of the death penalty if he is convicted of either count.
Talia Williams died July 16, 2005 after she was beaten and knocked to the floor of her Wheeler Army Airfield apartment. An autopsy found she died of "inflicted head trauma due to battered child syndrome."
