Inset: Alfred Williams (Tarrant County Corrections Center). Background: The apartment complex where Williams killed his 4-month-old son in Fort Worth, Tex. (Google Maps).
A Texas man will likely spend significant time behind bars for killing his infant son by flinging him into a couch while he was stressed out.
Alfred Williams, 21, was found guilty this week by a jury of his peers in Tarrant County on one count of felony murder for the child abuse-related death of 4-month-old Azari Williams.
The underlying incident occurred in February 2023, at an apartment complex on Southwest Loop 820 in southwest Fort Worth.
On the day in question, the little boy ended up at nearby Cook Children's Hospital, where he succumbed to a series of blunt force injuries suffered at home, the medical examiner's office said, according to Dallas-based Fox affiliate KDFW. At the time of the fatal abuse, the family had no history with Child Protective Services.
Earlier that day, Williams was the only adult in the apartment unit with Azari and the victim's 11-year-old half brother, according to a courtroom report by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
As the infant began to cry, and as the cries got louder and louder, the defendant yelled for him to shut up, according to law enforcement. Then, the first-time father picked up his son and squeezed. That squeeze fractured two of the tiny boy's ribs.
After that, Williams threw Azari into the arm of the couch. Then, the baby bounced – likely hitting his head on the wall, doctors said. In the end, a pathologist determined the combined attack had caused significant brain bleeding and a spinal column fracture.
During the state's closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Steven Elliott said Williams had thrown Azari "like he was nothing."
"I didn't want to hurt my child," Williams would later tell a detective through tears.
The defendant would go on to reveal the stresses in his life. He was unemployed at the time, could not pay his cellphone bill, and spent most of his time alone in the apartment caring for the often-crying baby boy while Azari's mother worked 12-hour shifts at a hospital.
But the man did find nonviolent ways to relieve stress, sometimes smoking cigars outside, other times walking to nearby stores.
The 11-year-old would provide an account of the evening, telling investigators he was in his bedroom when he heard his brother crying, then heard Williams shouting, and finally heard the crying stop.
The defendant was initially arrested on one count of injury to a child with serious bodily injury, the Star-Telegram reported. He was later indicted on the more severe offense.
The defense, for its part, argued manslaughter was a better fit for the facts of the case. Jurors were allowed to consider that lesser-included offense – over an objection by the state – in instructions prepared by 297th District Court Senior Judge Everett Young.
The jury ultimately determined the defendant did not intentionally kill Azari, but committed the felony crime of injury to a child and caused his death. During the next phase of the trial, the same jury will assess Williams' sentence. He faces five years to life in prison.
Comments