GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.– The trial of an inmate charged with assaulting a female corrections officer in the Kent County Jail continues today in Downtown Grand Rapids.Willie Williams is charged with assault with intent to murder.
Williams made a brief appearance in court this morning. He has chosen not to stay in the courtroom during his own trial. Williams was escorted out just before the first witness took the stand.
Nearly half a dozen of the witnesses are inmates. They were serving time when the alleged attack happened last September.
The inmates testified Williams was trying to escape. They told the jury they saw Williams ran past their cells late one night, sneak up behind the female deputy working third shift and start choking her. One inmate admitted to the prosecutor and the judge that he fabricated his statements to detectives last September because he thought he would receive a deal in court.
Another inmate recalled watching who he claimed was Williams pin the female deputy on the ground with his hands around her neck.
“It was a frightening scene,” that inmate told the prosecutor.
Several inmates told the court that they tried to break out of their cells when they claimed Williams was attacking the female deputy. “Willie is too big to be putting his hands on a woman that small,” recalled one inmate.
