Manatee jury finds Hardee County man guilty of murder in connection to 16-year-old's death

A Hardee County man was found guilty of first-degree murder late Thursday in connection to the killing of 16-year-old Amber Woods, who was found dead near a rural state road in Manatee County in February 2006.

Ralph Williams, 38, was charged with murder in the first degree in 2020 after Manatee County Sheriff’s Office detectives re-examined the case using previously unavailable cell phone technology.

Williams’ younger brother, Tyjuan Williams, was tried and convicted of second-degree murder in June, and he was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the killing.

After almost five hours of deliberation, the 12-person jury came back with a guilty verdict Thursday evening. Senior Judge Lee Haworth, who presided over the case, sentenced Williams following the verdict to life in prison.

Woods' family and Williams' family were not present in the courtroom.

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Previous reporting: Hardee County man sentenced to life in prison in connection to 16-year-old's death in 2006

During the state’s closing arguments, Assistant State Attorneys Suzanne O’Donnell and Rebecca Freel laid out the timeline of evidence leading up to Woods’ murder, including using cell phone texts, phone calls, and testimony from key witness, Jamaine Brown, the defendant’s half-brother.

Brown, who testified Wednesday, was arrested along with his brothers in 2020 but took a plea deal to accessory after the fact to murder and agreed to testify against his younger siblings.

“Amber Woods was a love-sick teenager,” O’Donnell began her closing, adding Woods thought that Williams was the one. Earlier in the trial, the prosecution showed a video of a 16-year-old Woods gushing into the camera as she showed what appeared to be a diamond ring given to her by Williams.

Both O’Donnell and Freel showed how the evidence presented pointed to Williams being a principal to the murder, meaning while he did not physically pull the trigger that killed Woods, he helped insite or cause another person to commit a crime.

This included a text Williams sent to another teenager saying that if something were to happen in a week or two, it wasn’t his fault; testimony that Williams had called a friend to inquire about a shotgun; stopping the car in the middle of a desolate area and initiating that everyone in the car, including Woods, get out; and yelling at his brother that he almost shot him.

Williams’ defense attorney, Jervis Wise, poked holes in the story, like why he never questioned his youngest brother when he got out of the car to explore an abandoned building or that he claimed his brothers wanted to go hog hunting but didn’t take any dogs like they usually did or have a truck.

“I think what this case is, is an attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole,” Wise said, adding that Brown had time to be coached to fit his testimony to the evidence.

Wise questioned if the two Williams brothers had planned to kill Woods that night, why would they bring Brown along, and if they planned to throw him under the bus, why didn’t they do so earlier during the times law enforcement questioned them over the years?

Wise pointed out that none of the text messages between Woods and Williams that night actually asked Woods to meet Williams or that Williams had planned to kill her.

Wise further argued that Williams lied to police during the multiple interviews because he was a 20-year-old kid listening to his older brother and dealing with Woods’ family, who didn’t like him and had already confronted him.

Ralph Williams takes the stand

Similar to his younger brother, who also testified before a jury, Williams sat before the jury as he shared his side of the story — one that included letting Brown take his car and $100 to buy him weed, which he claimed he started smoking for back pain.

Williams denied killing, planning, or intending to kill Woods. He said the two had become friends about two years before Woods’ death after meeting in class, but he hadn’t really been in a relationship with her.

Instead, he said they were also seeing other people.

“I didn’t know what romance was at that time,” Williams said.

Williams confirmed he and his family went to church around 8 p.m. and didn’t get out until after 11 p.m. Williams added that Brown ”was always late.”

After church, the brothers went to Walmart and then dropped Tyjuan Williams off at his girlfriend’s, meanwhile, Ralph Williams claimed Brown wanted to go to Winter Haven, but he hadn’t felt like driving him, so they made a deal.

Brown would get Williams some marijuana, and in return, Williams would let Brown borrow one of his two cars to drive up to Winter Haven. Williams claimed Brown dropped him off at his parents' house to get the other car while he drove out to meet his dealer with a $100 bill Williams had given him. The two were supposed to meet at a spot off of US 17 near State Route 62.

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Previous trial: Man testifies against brother in 17-year-old Manatee County cold case

When Williams made it, Brown was nowhere to be found, so Williams tried calling him several times. Williams claimed he was concerned about his car and the money he’d given his brother.

He said at some point he also called Marcus Hodges, who testified Wednesday he’d received a call from Williams about getting his shotgun.

O’Donnell later in her questioning pointed out that according to phone records, Williams called Hodges at 12:30 a.m., hours before cell towers placed him where he allegedly said he was meeting Brown away from their grandmother’s house. Williams said if that’s what records show then it must have been what happened.

O’Donnell also asked Williams why he hadn’t simply gone with Brown in the same car to get the marijuana, then driven back to get the other car to let him borrow it. After Williams repeated himself several times that they had a deal, he said Brown told him it was too dangerous.

Williams stated he became frustrated and began driving down Route 62 to see if he could find Brown, but was eventually told to return to their grandmother’s home and wait for Brown there. When Brown came home, Williams claimed he was sweating profusely and that he was “tripping, must have been on meth.”

When police began questioning Williams the following afternoon, he said he lied because Brown had told him to and because he had wanted to protect his brother, who was labeled as a sexual predator due to a previous felony case.

When O’Donnell pushed Williams on why he kept protecting Brown even in 2019, Williams kept saying his brother wasn’t supposed to be away from his aunt’s home in Winter Haven or have been in the same vicinity as Woods — a minor — which Williams said had happened when he and Woods were together at another trailer and Brown was there too.

Williams said he’d continued to cover for Brown until he’d learned that Brown couldn’t be charged with anything and that’s why he changed his story.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hardee County man found guilty of murder in Manatee County cold case