Veronica Williams

On Nov. 17, Veronica Williams, 28, entered a Baltimore City District Court in an effort to break a cycle of domestic violence at the hands of her spouse. She secured a restraining order and exited the courthouse. A few moments later, her husband allegedly cut her throat. In broad daylight. On a public street. In the middle of Northeast Baltimore. Four days later she was dead and her husband imprisoned, leaving behind three small children who will likely spend the rest of their lives mending from this unspeakable tragedy.

In the mind of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., the stabbing death of his wife on a Baltimore street was a tragedy that took place outside his control. The event, he said in court Friday, rendered him a victim, too. In sentencing the 35-year-old defendant to life in prison, Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy J. Doory admonished him to "accept 100 percent responsibility" for killing Veronica Graves Williams on Nov. 17, 2008, something he avoided doing during...

The trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., who is charged with murder in his wife's stabbing death, opened Tuesday with the defense and prosecution agreeing on one thing: He did it. Williams was shot twice by an officer Nov. 17, 2008, while sitting on top of the bloodied body of Veronica Williams, his wife of nearly 10 years and the pregnant mother of their three young children. The dispute is not about his guilt, but whether he planned the fatal attack or if it was a spontaneous, irrational act. "There are different degrees of homicide," his defense attorney, Melissa Phinn, told the jury.

Jurors in the trial of Cleaven Williams, who fatally stabbed his wife seven times outside a Baltimore courthouse in 2008, are having trouble reaching a consensus and will continue deliberating for a third day Thursday. Shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, members sent a note to Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. Doory that appeared to indicate they were having trouble reaching a verdict, and he instructed them to keep at it. They asked to go home for the day about an hour later through another note that mentioned "bickering" and "mixed emotions," according to a clerk's reading of the letter, which could be overheard in the courtroom.

On August 21 , 2004, MARGARET E. (nee Williams), devoted mother of James Richard Carr, Jr., Stephanie Ann Feathers, Veronica Dorothy Zaferes, Lisa Marie Hand and Jennifer Lynn Williams. Devoted daughter of Veronica Williams and the late John Williams. Also survived by twelve grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. Friends may call at the Lassahn Funeral Home, Inc., 7401 Belair Road, on Tuesday and Wednesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Anthony's Church, on Thursday at 10 A.M. Entombment Moreland Memorial Park Cemetery.

A woman who police say was stabbed by her husband moments after a judge granted her a temporary protective order against him has died. Baltimore police spokesman Donny Moses said that Veronica Williams, 28, died about 9 p.m. Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her husband of 10 years, Cleaven Williams, 33, who is president of an East Baltimore community group, is listed in good condition at the same hospital, recovering from at least two bullet wounds fired by city Officer Joshua Laycock.

Four days before Cleaven L. Williams Jr. stabbed his wife seven times on a Baltimore street, he wrote a letter outlining plans to kill her, according to testimony he gave in court Monday. "I figured that I had a [sexually transmitted disease] and I contracted it from my wife," Williams said, explaining that he wrote the undelivered letter because he was upset. "I write a lot, that's my vent. " The admission was made during a hearing held Monday afternoon on whether the letter — found by police on the passenger seat of a car he shared with his wife — could be entered into evidence at his trial, which is scheduled to begin with opening statements Tuesday.

It was midafternoon, and Shayna Samero was on her way home from work Nov. 17, 2008, idling in traffic on North Avenue near the Eastside District Courthouse in Baltimore, when she saw what looked like a couple of teenagers messing around on the street, one chasing the other. Within seconds, she realized it was a woman under attack. "She was trying to get away, she was trying to run away," Samero testified Wednesday during an emotional morning in the trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., who is charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of his wife, Veronica Williams.

The murder trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr. — who's accused of fatally stabbing his pregnant wife outside a Baltimore courthouse in 2008 — began Friday morning with attorneys arguing whether the autopsy photos could be shown to jurors. Veronica L. Williams was stabbed seven times in her face and neck, and the images taken by the medical examiner are described as graphic, showing wounds stretched wide to measure their depth. "They're very shocking," said defense attorney Melissa Phinn.

Man accused of killing wife pleads not guilty A Baltimore man accused of fatally stabbing his wife outside a courthouse where she had just received a protective order pleaded not guilty yesterday and asked for a jury trial. Cleaven Williams, 33, of the 900 block of E. North Ave. was arraigned on charges of first-degree murder and deadly weapons violations. He is accused of attacking his estranged wife, Veronica Williams, 28, about 4:15 p.m. Nov. 17 outside the Eastside Courthouse in the 1300 block of E. North Ave. An off-duty officer said he saw the attack, stopped to help the woman and shot the attacker in an attempt to stop the assault.

After his pregnant wife provoked him with a knife, "hot-blooded rage" drove Cleaven L. Williams Jr. to fatally stab her seven times under the afternoon sun, according to his defense attorney, who claims the 2008 Baltimore killing was unintentional manslaughter. But prosecutor Kevin Wiggins said Williams sliced his own throat while threatening suicide, and that the attack on his wife was "nothing less" than willful, deliberate and premeditated first-degree murder. "It's a common tactic to blame the victim," Wiggins said, calling Williams a "controlled, selfish, narcissistic, abusive adulterer" who doesn't make a move without calculating it first.

A building contractor accused of stabbing his wife to death in 2008 described to a jury Thursday how in the weeks before the killing he had suspected her of seeing someone else. While testifying in his own defense, he said he'd seen a salacious photo of another man's anatomy on her cellphone and that he feared she had given him a sexually transmitted disease. "We weren't seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of things," the 35-year-old defendant, Cleaven L. Williams Jr., said in Baltimore Circuit Court.

It was midafternoon, and Shayna Samero was on her way home from work Nov. 17, 2008, idling in traffic on North Avenue near the Eastside District Courthouse in Baltimore, when she saw what looked like a couple of teenagers messing around on the street, one chasing the other. Within seconds, she realized it was a woman under attack. "She was trying to get away, she was trying to run away," Samero testified Wednesday during an emotional morning in the trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., who is charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of his wife, Veronica Williams.

The trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., who is charged with murder in his wife's stabbing death, opened Tuesday with the defense and prosecution agreeing on one thing: He did it. Williams was shot twice by an officer Nov. 17, 2008, while sitting on top of the bloodied body of Veronica Williams, his wife of nearly 10 years and the pregnant mother of their three young children. The dispute is not about his guilt, but whether he planned the fatal attack or if it was a spontaneous, irrational act. "There are different degrees of homicide," his defense attorney, Melissa Phinn, told the jury.

Four days before Cleaven L. Williams Jr. stabbed his wife seven times on a Baltimore street, he wrote a letter outlining plans to kill her, according to testimony he gave in court Monday. "I figured that I had a [sexually transmitted disease] and I contracted it from my wife," Williams said, explaining that he wrote the undelivered letter because he was upset. "I write a lot, that's my vent. " The admission was made during a hearing held Monday afternoon on whether the letter — found by police on the passenger seat of a car he shared with his wife — could be entered into evidence at his trial, which is scheduled to begin with opening statements Tuesday.

The murder trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr. — who's accused of fatally stabbing his pregnant wife outside a Baltimore courthouse in 2008 — began Friday morning with attorneys arguing whether the autopsy photos could be shown to jurors. Veronica L. Williams was stabbed seven times in her face and neck, and the images taken by the medical examiner are described as graphic, showing wounds stretched wide to measure their depth. "They're very shocking," said defense attorney Melissa Phinn.

The deputy major of the Baltimore Police Department's Eastern District has been suspended pending an internal investigation into allegations that he failed to disclose a series of text messages he exchanged with a man sought on a domestic violence warrant, days before authorities say he killed his wife. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that Dan A. Lioi was suspended indefinitely Saturday because of "integrity issues." He would not provide details. Sources with knowledge of the situation say Lioi exchanged text messages with 33-year-old Cleaven Lawrence Williams Jr. and might not have vigorously attempted to serve the warrant for his arrest.

A former Greenmount community leader accused of fatally stabbing his estranged wife outside a Baltimore courthouse — shortly after she had secured a protective order — has been determined by a medical facility to be competent to stand trial, according to prosecutors. That finding was briefly mentioned in Baltimore City Circuit Court today, as the trial of Cleaven Williams Jr. was scheduled to begin. The finding still must be officially confirmed by the court. After the brief court proceeding today, Williams' trial was postponed.

A former Greenmount community leader accused of fatally stabbing his estranged wife outside a Baltimore courthouse — shortly after she had secured a protective order — has been determined by a medical facility to be competent to stand trial, according to prosecutors. That finding was briefly mentioned in Baltimore City Circuit Court today, as the trial of Cleaven Williams Jr. was scheduled to begin. The finding still must be officially confirmed by the court. After the brief court proceeding today, Williams' trial was postponed.

The deputy major of the Baltimore Police Department's Eastern District has been suspended pending an internal investigation into allegations that he failed to disclose a series of text messages he exchanged with a man sought on a domestic violence warrant, days before authorities say he killed his wife. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that Dan A. Lioi was suspended indefinitely Saturday because of "integrity issues." He would not provide details. Sources with knowledge of the situation say Lioi exchanged text messages with 33-year-old Cleaven Lawrence Williams Jr. and might not have vigorously attempted to serve the warrant for his arrest.