Williams

CLEARFIELD — A Morrisdale woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her husband will not get a new trial, a Clearfield County judge has ruled.

In June, a jury determined that Kimberly Sue Williams, 48, was guilty of both involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person in relation to Ronald Williams Jr.’s death from a gunshot wound to the head on March 14, 2019.

She was acquitted of first- and third-degree murder.

Testimony presented at the trial indicated that Ronald Williams Jr. was depressed and obsessed with death after he became bedridden following a stroke.

The commonwealth’s position was that it was actually Kimberly Williams who pulled the trigger, rather than Ronald committing suicide.

In October, she was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 302 to 604 days in the county jail, which is the time she served while awaiting trial, plus three years’ probation.

Shortly after the sentence, her attorney, Steven Trialonas, filed several post-sentence motions. He claimed there was no evidence presented at the trial to support the charge of involuntary manslaughter or for her being reckless. He asked that she be acquitted or have a new trial on just those charges.

In an opinion filed Thursday, Ammerman pointed out that during the trial, even though the prosecution was focused on proving Kimberly had killed her husband, there was also evidence that he had “previously pointed a gun at her, had previously intentionally shot a gun in the house and had previously lost control of a loaded gun, causing the victim to shoot a hole in their living room wall.

“Likewise, defendant relayed that she had previously taken a loaded gun away from the victim when he was having a bad day because she did not feel that he should have a gun in his possession.”

In addition, the weekend prior to his death, his daughter took a gun from him “because she was scared of his behavior.”

Because the defense’s theory was that Ronald Williams died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, several witnesses mentioned that he was severely depressed and had previously been involuntarily committed for suicidal attempts. He also regularly threatened suicide “as a means of manipulation,” the opinion stated.

Kimberly Williams herself told police that her husband “would tell her which gun he wanted and she would bring it to him knowing they were loaded. At times, defendant would even load the guns for the victim if he was unable.”

All of that leads to the jury concluding that she was grossly negligent when she gave him a loaded gun and was responsible for his death, Ammerman said in his opinion.

Ammerman said it was reasonable for the jury to reach the conclusion it made and denied the motion for acquittal and the request for a new trial.

Evidence presented at trial to support the idea that Kimberly Williams shot Ronald Williams included messages sent by her husband just hours before his death saying if something happened to him, that an autopsy should be done and that he wanted to change his will which left his wife over $1 million.

Physical evidence in the case included traces of gunpowder residue on Kimberly Williams’s hand while Ronald Williams Jr. had none, not even in the wound.

There was also no blood on the barrel of the gun, and a pathologist determined that the shot in the head that killed Ronald Williams Jr. came from further away than the length of his arm.