Toledo RB Ray Williams (official thread)

[BuckeyeNation27]

"There's no justice - that's all I have to say," said Cheryl Tucker, mother of the dead 16-year-old, Lorenzo Hunter, after she stormed out of court.

somebody shut her up. did she want this kid to go to jail because her own son was robbing him?

 

[Oh8ch]

Nation - I think you are misreading her statement. Obviously she expected to be sent to prison for failing so miserably as a parent.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/9900507.htm

Star football player pleads guilty in teammate's death

[size=-1]Associated Press[/size]

CLEVELAND - An 18-year-old recognized as the top prep football player in the state pleaded guilty Tuesday for his role in the shooting death of a teammate.
Raymond Williams faces three to 20 years in prison at his sentencing Nov. 16 on involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery charges.

Williams, a running back at Benedictine High School, was named the 17th annual winner of The Ohio Associated Press Mr. Football award last November.

Police said Williams, Jon Huddleston and Lorenzo Hunter, all members of the school's state-champion football team, allegedly tried to use a toy gun April 16 to rob Rodney Roberts, who pulled a gun and began shooting.

Hunter, 16, died of gunshot wounds to the chest, arm and hip.

A grand jury ruled that Roberts, 20, shot in self-defense. He was sentenced earlier this year to probation for carrying a concealed weapon.

Williams was initially charged with murder and aggravated robbery for his part in the circumstances that led to Hunter's death. His trial was to start Tuesday.

Williams had received a football scholarship from West Virginia University where he would have been a freshman this fall. The university withdrew the scholarship after the shooting.

Huddleston's trial starts Nov. 8 on murder and aggravated robbery charges.

Williams will testify against Huddleston, according to the terms of his plea agreement. The prosecutor's office will not recommend a sentence to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold.

Williams' attorney, William Dawson, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

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[MililaniBuckeye]

I actually consider myself to somewhat intelligent on the substantive criminal law in Ohio. This case is not even somewhat analogous to toiletpapering. Whether the gun used in the robbery was real or not, it is aggravated robbery as long as it was reasonable to believe it was a real gun (remember it was dark outside). Whether the gun was real or not, Hunter's death was in self-defense as long as it was reasonable to believe the gun was real and as long as the shooter felt threatened at the time he defended himself.

In Ohio, if you commit a dangerous felony such as aggravated robbery, you are responsible for the foreseeable consequences flowing from the felony. Here, it was foreseeable that a man would believe the gun used in the robbery to be real, and feel as though he had to defend himself by deadly force. In Ohio, it also does not matter that the individual killed is a co-conspirator. The other co-conspirators will be responsible for his death as long as it was a foreseeable consequence of the commission of a dangerous felony, and the death resulted during the commission of that felony.

As long as Hunter wasn't shot in the back fleeing the scene, it's a slam dunk for the prosecution.

Uh, actually it is analogous to toiletpapering...what if the house owner who shoots my friend/accomplice thinks we're trying to break in instead of simply toiletpapering it?

I agree that the Williams and Huddleston are somewhat responsible for Hunter's death, but they are not guilty of murder...I'd say manslaughter. Murder implies some sort intent to kill the person who died as a result of the actions. Manslaughter implies that there was no intent to kill. Hunter's death was as a result of someone other than Williams and Huddleston protecting himself...Williams and Huddleston had absolutely not intent for Hunter to be killed or even hurt. Hunter participated in the "robbery" under his own free will, and thus should be the one who bares the majority of the responsibility of his actions.

 

[Buckskin86]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1099650747272540.xml

Ex-Benedictine player admits guilt in slaying
Says robbery was night's 2nd
Friday, November 05, 2004
Jim Nichols
Plain Dealer Reporter
Former Benedictine High School football player Jon Huddleston took responsibility on Thursday for a good friend's shooting death during a robbery that Huddleston helped plot.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers also laid out details of the tragic night last April 16 when 16-year-old Benedictine classmate Lorenzo Hunter died, shot by a man he and two others tried to rob. The robbery, lawyers said, was the second in a night of thuggery led by Raymond Williams, a star on last year's Bengals' state-championship football team.

Huddleston pleaded guilty to a felony count of involuntary manslaughter, the same charge to which Williams pleaded on Oct. 12. The teammates, both 19, originally were charged with murder on the grounds that they took part in the criminal enterprise that led to Hunter's death.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold is to sentence both Nov. 16.

Huddleston said little except to acknowledge the charge and the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty.

Dressed in khakis and a tie, he locked one arm behind his back and quaked as the judge explained he could receive a prison term of up to 10 years.

"Stop shaking," Saffold said. "You're making me nervous, shaking so much."

Afterward, defense attorney Patrick D'Angelo said he would ask for probation. Huddleston, he said, got swept up in peer pressure and "was involved, but it was minimal."

"He's a fine young man," D'Angelo said. "I'd be honored if he were my son." But Assistant County Prosecutors Thomas Cahill and Frankie Goldberg said Huddleston helped plot the botched robbery that left Hunter bullet-ridden.

Said Cahill later: "Jon Huddleston is not the new-driven snow that Pat D'Angelo makes him out to be. He never had even a toy gun in his hand, but he set this whole thing in motion."

Williams, Huddleston and Hunter were in a three-car caravan of 11 youths bent on a night of trouble, with Williams as leader, lawyers on both sides said.

In East Cleveland earlier that evening, the trio jumped out of a car driven by another Benedictine classmate, and Williams body-slammed a randomly chosen teen. While Huddleston watched and classmates from another car videotaped, Williams and Hunter robbed the boy of $20 and a cell phone, lawyers said. Williams and Hunter split the cash.

It was authorities' first public acknowledgement that the trio participated in another robbery that night.

The caravan returned to Cleveland and approached Huddleston's home.

Then a neighbor youth in the second car with Huddleston's two teenage brothers phoned Huddleston and told him he had just seen a cash-flush neighborhood man named Rodney Roberts, Cahill said.

"He said to Huddleston, 'Hey, there's somebody you can rob, because he's soft,' " Cahill said. Huddleston, Williams and Hunter debated whether Roberts might have a gun as the youths in the other cars went home, prosecutors and D'Angelo said.

Huddleston, Williams and Hunter got out, and Huddleston had turned to walk home when they spotted Roberts' car, prosecutors said.

Hunter approached under the guise of wanting to buy marijuana, Cahill said. Roberts, 21, told him to leave.

Then, while Huddleston watched from about 100 feet away, Williams and Hunter drew guns, prosecutors said. (Hunter's was identified later as a replica weapon; Williams' was never found.) Prosecutors said Roberts threw out some bills. Then, when Hunter ordered him out of the car, Roberts shot him as the others ran, prosecutors said.

A grand jury eventually ruled that Roberts fired in self-defense.

Prosecutors indicated they would pursue a stiff sentence for Williams, Ohio's Mr. Football in 2003. Said Goldberg: "Ray was the mastermind in all of this."

 

[Muck]

Milalini, the law was created to help ensure that no one involved in a felony can claim lesser involvement. It basically lets prosecutors charge everyone involved with the highest crime possible.

(That is of course an oversimplification.)

.../snip/... they are not guilty of murder...I'd say manslaughter. Murder implies some sort intent to kill the person who died as a result of the actions. Manslaughter implies that there was no intent to kill.../snip/...

Ahem...

Raymond Williams faces three to 20 years in prison at his sentencing Nov. 16 on involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery charges.

]

 

[Bestbuck36]

... under his own free will, and thus should be the one who bares the majority of the responsibility of his actions.

I agree wholeheartedly, however, in this day and age very few people ever take responsibility for their own actions. It really is a sad sad world.

 

[OH10]

Sorry Millani, the analogy is still horrible. You're assuming that it would be reasonable to believe a couple of toiletpapering kids would be trying to forcefully break into a home with the intent to commit a felony. No way would a jury buy that. And it actually has to be in the commission of a felony. Armed robbery, or any robbery with the threat of force is a felony. Toiletpapering is a misdemeanor, and a 3rd degree misdemeanor at that. The analogy is way off. I know you're trying to preach what the extreme consequences of felony-murder can be, but you need to find something better than a low-lever misdemeanor prank.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

2/21/06

Ex-Ohio Mr. Football resurfaces with Toledo

Tuesday, February 21, 2006


[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By RON MUSSELMAN The Blade[/FONT]




TOLEDO - Raymond Williams has enjoyed life at the top of the mountain.
As Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2003, he was the star everyone loved and everyone wanted.

Williams was a Parade Magazine All-American.

He led Cleveland’s Benedictine High School to a state championship as a senior.

He was headed to West Virginia University on a football scholarship.

In one night, though, Williams’ horrendous lack of judgment cost the life of his close friend and sent Williams tumbling to rock bottom.

He faced a prison term of up to 20 years, and the absolute end of his football dreams, after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery.

Where is Raymond Williams today? He is in the weight room at the University of Toledo, working his way back up the mountain.

BECOMING A ROCKET

Coach Tom Amstutz said that Williams will be part of his team’s spring drills next month, which means that we should see him in a Rockets uniform this fall.

“I know Ray regrets everything that happened,” said Amstutz, who declined to make Williams available for this story.

“He made bad decisions. He was definitely on the wrong path. He’s been in school here for more than a year now. He’s gone through the court system and followed everything they’ve said he had to do.

“He knows this is his last chance, but he also knows this is a chance to change his life in a better direction. I’m the kind of guy who believes in second chances. As long as the young men I’m working with give me all they have, I’ll give them all I have.”

Williams, a powerful 5-foot-11, 185-pound tailback who hasn’t played football in more than two years, is a guy who desperately needs a second chance.

WHEN IT ALL CHANGED

On April 16, 2004, five months after leading Benedictine to the Division III state title, one month before his graduation, and four months before heading off to West Virginia, Williams’ life changed forever.

According to prosecutors, Williams and two of his teammates — Jon Huddleston and Lorenzo Hunter — attempted to rob a drug dealer who was sitting in his car on a street in Cleveland, using a fake, but realistic-looking handgun.

Rodney Roberts pulled out a real gun and began shooting.

He fired nine shots in all.

Four of them hit the 16-year-old Hunter, killing him.

Williams, 18 at the time, and Huddleston ran from the scene, abandoning their dead friend.

Prosecutors portrayed Williams as the ringleader of the trio.

And they pointed out that Williams was involved in another incident earlier that same night in which he slammed a teenage boy to the ground, and then he and Hunter robbed the kid of $20 and a cell phone.

Williams and Huddleston, a first-team all-state pick, were both arrested and charged in Hunter’s shooting death on April 26, 2004.

West Virginia immediately withdrew Williams’ scholarship offer, pending the outcome of the case.

Six months later, Williams pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery charges.

Huddleston pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

JUDGE’S RULING

In November 2004, Williams and Huddleston were the beneficiaries of a generous ruling by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold.

She decided to put Williams and Huddleston on probation rather than send them to prison.

At the end of the three-hour sentencing hearing, Saffold said: “I don’t believe these young men acted as adults. They acted as children.”

Those words sent shockwaves throughout the courtroom.

Hunter’s mother, Cheryl Tucker, told Saffold she missed her teenage son and wanted justice in his death.

Prosecutors also were angry, saying the robbery was well-planned and a thrill-seeking mission, not a random act of violence.

Saffold placed Williams and Huddleston on five years’ probation, and insisted they attend college within six months and maintain a C average.

Saffold said if either violated terms of their probation, they would be sentenced to three years in prison.

Williams promised the judge that he would try to make something positive out of his life.

“If I don’t play another down, I won’t be mad,” he said.

Williams enrolled as a student at Toledo in January 2005.

AND WHAT’S NEXT?

But Amstutz has been tight-lipped about Williams’ football future — until now.

“Ray is in our conditioning class and he’s started to work out,” Amstutz said. “I’ve been able to watch him work out.

“He’s obviously a talented football player. If his academics are right, and he’s doing the right things off the field and living the right kind of life, I’ll give him a chance.”

Amstutz is well aware of the repercussions of his decision.

There is no gray area.

People will either love him or hate him for giving Williams — a convicted felon — yet another break.

“I’m not worried,” Amstutz said.

“I figure that I’ve been put in a position to be an influence on young men’s lives, to help them go in the right direction, to give them discipline in their life.

“So far, Ray has done everything right. I’m going to support any young man who changes his life in a positive direction, and help him better his future.”

No one questions Williams’ ability as a football player.

Twenty-seven months ago, he rushed for 237 yards and two touchdowns in Benedictine’s 12-0 victory over Kenton in the state championship game in Canton.

Williams was the two-time offensive player of the year in Division III.

And he is Benedictine’s all-time leader in rushing (7,045 yards), touchdowns (89) and points (538).

All that glory came before his fall.

Now Williams wants to be back on top of that mountain, and Amstutz has extended a hand to help him up. Those close to both are praying there won’t be a landslide.

 

[OH10]

You know what? I can't be mad about this. The fact is the judge has forced him to get his life back on track. 3 years hanging over his head to get a C-average. Sending him to prison probably wouldn't have accomplished anything. She needed to find out if this kid could be a productive member of society.

In the end, society will benefit if he does get his life on track. What's better for society in 2008? Ray Williams the college graduate? Or Ray Williams the parolee?

 

[exhawg]

You know what? I can't be mad about this. The fact is the judge has forced him to get his life back on track. 3 years hanging over his head to get a C-average. Sending him to prison probably wouldn't have accomplished anything. She needed to find out if this kid could be a productive member of society.

In the end, society will benefit if he does get his life on track. What's better for society in 2008? Ray Williams the college graduate? Or Ray Williams the parolee?

I agree, I just hope he takes this opportunity and makes the most of it. Ray is getting a second chance that most young men in is position wouldn't have been given.

 

[Jeffcat]

I agree as well. I am not a big fan of Amstutz but this a good move on his part. Prison for Williams does not rehabilitate a kid of that age, it usually makes them worse. I dont see how the kid could fail. While his actions were wrong and they make it seem as if he just didnt care that Hunter died, I am sure that Williams is profoundly changed by the experience as his friend has died and he is still alive walking a thin line that I am sure he surely wants to do everything in his power to widen and change his life around. I honestly would not be in fear of Williams if I saw him around the campus of Toledo because I really feel he poses no threat. The kid has to go to college and excell and on top of that he is motivated enough to play football which is a daring move on his part considering if it inhibits his grades hes in jail so he obviously feels very committed and passionate about what he is doing as of now.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Without turning it into a trainwreck thread I'll just say I disagree.

Prision isn't for rehabilitating, its for keeping the animals seperate from the peaceful law abiding citizens. If a few actually turn a new leaf while incarcerated then great but its really just a holding pen for them.

All this judge has done is show a kid who is prone to violence and has no respect for the welfare and safety of other human beings that there are no consequences for his actions. After what he's done we'll let him go to college and play football again but he has to keep at least a C average? Is that actually seen as punishment to anyone?

You want to give him a second chance without prison? Fine, I agree. Marine boot camp and at least one combat tour in Iraq should do the trick. You come back from that and I'll buy into the fact your a changed man and consider the debt to society paid. Then off to college and life as a productive, useful member of a peaceful society. If he doesn't make it back then same thing, debt paid.


IMO this decison does no good for the kid, he's learned nothing, or society, we just get a violent felon loose on a college campus. I hope I'm wrong but I'd lay even money he fucks up again. I just hope it isn't the child of anyone here that gets hurt when he does.

 

[OH10]

Ultimately, the purpose of punishment is to benefit society. At the end of the day, we give criminals sentences that serve the community, state, and nation best. I fail to see how putting this kid in prison is going to help society. Sure, there's the proposition that he's a violent felon and we could keep him off the streets for 3-6 years. And then we he gets out, what? What are his options then? Probably back to violent crime. In fact, that may be the only option because nobody wants to give a convicted felon a second chance.

Instead, this judge has put Williams on a very short leash. If he can't meet the requirements, he goes to prison. It's that simple. If the kid is going to slip, he's going to slip in the classroom first before he goes out a commits an act of violence against someone. And if he does slip, he goes to jail. This best serves society. Why put one more kid through a system that doesn't really benefit society other than the time in which the person is, in fact, in prison. We'll find out real soon if he's learned his lesson and can be positive contributor in the community. That's the best way to make up for his misdeeds.

 

[Muck]

You want to give him a second chance without prison? Fine, I agree. Marine boot camp and at least one combat tour in Iraq should do the trick. You come back from that and I'll buy into the fact your a changed man and consider the debt to society paid.

Umm no thanks.

I really have no desire to have my life endangered because of some day social experiment.

For what possible reason would I want to go into combat with this kid?