Insets, from left: Alexus Chenelle Williams (Harris County Jail), Harmony Carhee, Donyavia Lagway and Gregory Carhee (Jammie R. Pruitt Funeral Home). Background: Totoro Place Apartments in Houston, Texas (KHOU).
A Texas woman who watched on FaceTime as the hit man she hired murdered three people, including her ex-girlfriend and a 6-year-old girl, will spend decades in prison.
Alexus Chenelle Williams, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for the deaths of Gregory Carhee, 35, Donyavia Lagway, 29, and their 6-year-old daughter Harmony Carhee.
The triple murder occurred on June 30, 2021, at the Totoro Place Apartments on Fondren Road near West Airport Boulevard in Houston. Williams hired a childhood friend, Xavier Davis, then 28, to carry out the killings, telling him there was cash in the home that he could keep, according to court documents obtained by local CBS affiliate KHOU. She was previously in a relationship with Lagway.
But Lagway returned to her husband, Carhee, and was pregnant with his child at the time she was killed.
With Williams watching on FaceTime, Davis barged into the apartment after Carhee opened the door and started shooting. The bullets hit Carhee, Lagway and Harmony, along with the couple's 10-year-old daughter, who played dead and held the hand of her 1-year-old brother.
After Davis left, the 10-year-old alerted family members, who then called police.
Police received a tip that identified Davis as the shooter. He was arrested with $3,000 and ammunition that matched the shell casings found at the scene. Investigators later recovered the murder weapon at Davis' girlfriend's house.
Detectives knew Williams was involved from the start, but did not arrest her for months as they built their case against her.
"The one who's not in custody, even though I'm not going to say your name, you know who you are, and so do we," then-Houston Police Chief Troy Finner told reporters at a press conference.
Meanwhile, Williams even attended the victims' funerals, KHOU reported.
Text messages between Williams and Davis were key in tying her to the crime. Police arrested Williams in March 2022, about eight months after the slayings.
Davis pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder and was sentenced to death in April.