Willard Jimerson

Case record: Willard Jimerson

Background

Willard Jimerson was 13 years old when he was charged with the first degree murder of 14-year-old Jamie Wilson.

The offence

Just after midnight on March 11, 1994, Jamie Wilson was shot to death on a street near Garfield High School.

Earlier that evening, a group of about eight young people, most of them teenagers, gathered at an arcade on Yesler Street to play video games. The group included both Kaai Williams and 13-year-old Jimerson.

Sometime after 10:30 p.m., the group left and walked to nearby Spruce Park. While they were at the park, Williams fired gunshots into the ground at April Winfrey's feet to make her "dance." The gun was one 14-year-old April had given Williams at the arcade. After Williams fired the gun, April retrieved it from a yard where it was thrown.

The group left the park to walk to a mini-market about six blocks away. As they neared the mini-market, 15-year-old Adrienne Smith saw Jamie across the street. Led by April, the group crossed the street and began hitting and kicking Jamie. Jamie broke free and ran down the street toward Garfield High School. April chased her and caught her. When the others caught up, they again began to hit and kick Jamie.

Jamie lay on the ground asking them to stop. Several women in a nearby apartment building also yelled at them to stop and threatened to call police.

During a pause in the fighting, Jamie pulled herself up to a seated position at the edge of the curb. As she did so, Jimerson walked up behind her and shot her twice from a distance of two or three feet. The gun he used was the gun Williams had fired in Spruce Park. He then handed the gun to Williams.

Jamie lay on the ground calling for help and appeared to be having trouble breathing. Williams then walked up, said, "Rest in peace, bitch," and shot Jamie with the same gun from about four feet away. After Williams shot her, Jamie slumped over.

The group gathered by a log barrier a short distance away. Williams and Jimerson were laughing about what had just happened. Jimerson then ran off through Garfield High School and the rest of the group walked up Jefferson Street together.

After the group left, the women in the nearby apartment building who had called police ran over and tried to help Jamie. When police arrived, they obtained a description of an individual who had shot Jamie from one of the women. Based on that description, they stopped the group as they walked up Jefferson. Williams, who matched the description, was with the group. Jamie was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The medical examiner later determined that Jamie had three gunshot wounds: one to the left arm and one to the chest had entered from the back; one to the left pelvic region had entered from the front. The cause of death was the gunshot wound to the chest which had perforated Jamie's heart, lung, liver and stomach. The medical examiner opined that Jamie would have experienced difficulty in breathing and gone into irreversible shock 5 to 15 minutes after the shot.

Jimerson and Williams were each charged with first degree murder in complicity with another.

Investigation

Police arrived at the scene and obtained a description of an individual who had shot Jamie from one of the women. Based on that description, police stopped the group as they walked up Jefferson.

Arrest

No separate arrest facts were stated beyond police stopping the group after obtaining a description.

Trial

Charges and joinder

The charges against both Kaai Williams and Willard Jimerson were first degree murder in complicity with another or, in the alternative, second degree murder.

On June 7, the trial court joined the defendants for trial.

Declination of juvenile court jurisdiction

On June 2, 1994, the juvenile court declined jurisdiction over 13-year-old Jimerson and remanded his case to adult court.

Speedy trial and trial dates

Jimerson requested a trial date past Williams's speedy trial expiration date of June 10 to prepare for trial. The trial court granted his request and set trial for July 25 over Williams's objection.

On July 6, Williams requested an additional extension to give him more time to investigate witnesses who had come to light since the defendants were joined.

Trial began on August 23.

Evidence admitted

At the Conclusion of trial, the jury found both Jimerson and Williams guilty of first degree murder.

Williams challenged the admission of officers' testimony about statements made by a woman known as "Punkin." The officers testified that "Punkin" told them "the person that did the shooting was a black male, juvenile or early twenties, wearing a plaid shirt or jacket and wearing a black cap." The trial court admitted the officers' testimony under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.

The trial court found the statement admissible under the excited utterance exception. The opinion described evidence that police contacted Kelly when they arrived minutes after the shooting as Jamie lay dying. Officers testified that Kelly approached them in great distress asking over and over what they were going to do to help Jamie, and remained agitated, repeatedly asking why help had not yet come. The opinion also described officers' testimony that Kelly was yelling, cursing, crying, "jittering with her hands," "very, very upset," "very agitated," and "talking fast." It stated that Kelly hesitated to give her real name and apartment number but did not waver in her description of the shooter as wearing a plaid shirt and a black cap. The opinion stated that Williams was wearing a plaid shirt and a black cap when police spotted him three blocks away in the direction Kelly said the group had gone.

Testimony about threats

The opinion described that Tequila Wilson testified that she was threatened. It stated that her testimony about the threats she had received was stricken and the jury was instructed to disregard it entirely.

The opinion also stated that Jimerson testified that he heard from others that Williams had threatened him, but also testified that Williams did not threaten him directly.

Accomplice liability and premeditation

Jimerson contended on appeal that there was insufficient evidence of premeditation and/or accomplice liability to support his conviction for first degree murder.

The opinion described that Dr. Reay, the medical examiner, testified that the cause of death was the shot to the chest which perforated Jamie's lung, heart, liver and stomach, and that that wound would have caused difficulty in breathing and irreversible shock about 5 to 15 minutes after the injury. It described that wounds from the back were among those, and that witnesses testified that Jimerson was standing behind Jamie when he shot her two times and that she was having difficulty breathing even before Williams fired the third shot.

The opinion stated that April Winfrey had the gun in her possession as they were walking toward the mini-market, permitting an inference that Jimerson needed to get the gun from April prior to shooting Jamie. It also described that Jimerson shot Jamie twice from the back as she was sitting crouched on the curb.

The opinion further addressed accomplice liability, stating that Jimerson handed the gun to Williams immediately after shooting Jamie himself and that this was sufficient to permit a rational juror to conclude, especially in light of Williams's earlier shots at April's feet in the park, that Jimerson acted with the knowledge that it would encourage Williams to shoot at Jamie.

Verdict

After two days of deliberations in the murder trial, the jury returned its verdict. It found both Jimerson and Williams guilty of first degree murder.

Sentencing

The trial court sentenced both within the standard range and ordered that Jimerson be detained by the Department of Youth Services until his 18th birthday.

Willard Jimerson was sentenced to 23 years in prison in September 1994.

Appeals

Appellants and issues

Kaai Williams and Willard Jimerson appealed their convictions for the first degree murder of 14-year-old Jamie Wilson.

Williams argued that the trial court erred in granting the State's motion to join his trial with Jimerson's and in denying his motion to sever. He also contended that his right to a speedy trial was violated and that the court erroneously admitted hearsay statements under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.

Jimerson argued that the juvenile court abused its discretion when it declined jurisdiction. He also argued that there was insufficient evidence to support either premeditation or accomplice liability.

Decision

The court rejected both Williams's and Jimerson's arguments and affirmed.

Outcome

The Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of Kaai Williams and Willard Jimerson for the first degree murder of 14-year-old Jamie Wilson.

Other details

The appeal caption stated:

• "STATE OF WASHINGTON, RESPONDENT, v. KAAI JOSEPH WILLIAMS AND WILLARD JIMERSON, AND EACH OF THEM, APPELLANTS."
• "Appeal from Superior Court of King County."
• "Docket No: 94-1-03582-3."
• "Date filed: 11/28/94."
• "Judge signing: Hon. Norma S. Huggins."
• "Authored by Susan R. Agid."
• "Concurring: C. Kenneth Grosse, Ann L. Ellington."
• "The opinion of the court was delivered by: Agid"

The record included references to later biographical details about Jimerson’s time in prison, including that Jimerson remained incarcerated after being convicted and sentenced as a juvenile.

The record also included statements attributed to Jimerson in later interviews, including:

• "I was incarcerated six weeks after my 13th birthday," he said in a telephone interview from the McNeil Island Correctional Facility. "And that person, honestly, does not exist any more."
• "I feel like I have an obligation to live for two people now," he said. "A life was taken that shouldn't have been so I'm obligated to make sure that next person does get a chance to live. I don't want to see nobody else go through this, I really don't -- on both sides."
• "That's something I'm really interested in -- why people do the things they do," he said. "Is intelligence a genetic thing or do some people come from intelligence backgrounds?"
• "It was scary, initially, coming in," he said. "But I guarantee you it's going to be just as scary getting out."

The record included a statement attributed to Dan Satterberg: "Given the seriousness of this crime, eight years was simply not enough," Dan Satterberg, chief of staff in the King County Prosecutor's Office, said recently. "Not enough punishment for him, and not enough security for us."

The record included a statement attributed to Norm Maleng: "totally without empathy or feelings of right and wrong," he said at the time.

• It also included the quote: "totally without empathy or feelings of right and wrong,"
• It included the quote: "Totally without empathy or feelings of right and wrong," as part of the characterization.

The record included a statement attributed to Pat Arthur: "If you aren't able to fight back in the prison culture, you will end up getting -- in the words of prisoners themselves -- punked," Arthur said. It also included the quote: "Either way, we're not giving these children a chance to grow or to change. If it happens at all, it's only despite what we're doing."

The record included a statement attributed to Jimerson: "You kind of feel separated -- you and the details of the case," he said. "You know that that happened -- 'OK, that did occur, this did happen' -- but the intent, or the way they're trying to say it went about -- no, that's not how it went down." It also included: "His understanding of consequence, Jimerson added, was cartoon-like, unreal." And included: "I wasn't mad or angry or upset with anyone," he said. "As a kid, you don't understand the ramifications, that this person is gone for the rest of their life. Your intent is never to harm them. Your intent is not to kill them. Your intent was to have fun."

The record included statements attributed to Carolyn Prentice:

• "It was peer pressure," Prentice said. "She wanted to fit in."
• "It was unbearable." (This appeared as a quoted statement attributed to Jimerson: "At the time, honestly, it felt overwhelming to me. It was unbearable." The record also stated this phrase in the context of Jimerson.)
• "She thought, with all his apparent changes, that she might like to meet Jimerson some day." (Not a quote.)

The record included a statement attributed to Jimerson at school graduation:

• "Do not belong to your circumstances, but rise above them," he urged other students.

The record also referenced prison and custody facts and educational and vocational program participation, including that Jimerson attended the Pierce College prison program and received a certificate in building maintenance.

The record referenced Jimerson’s incarceration at the McNeil Island Correctional Facility and subsequent interests and courses, including learning Arabic and tutoring others, and later interest in psychology.

Timeline

• March 11, 1994 — Jamie Wilson was shot to death on a street near Garfield High School; police obtained a description and stopped the group as they walked up Jefferson; Williams was matched to the description and Jamie was pronounced dead at the hospital.
• June 2, 1994 — The juvenile court declined jurisdiction over 13-year-old Jimerson and remanded his case to adult court.
• June 7, 1994 — The trial court joined the defendants for trial.
• June 10 — Williams's speedy trial expiration date.
• July 25 — Trial was set for July 25 over Williams's objection.
• July 6 — Williams requested an additional extension to investigate witnesses.
• August 23 — Trial began.
• August 25, 1997 — The Court of Appeals decision date shown in the case heading.
• 11/28/94 — Date filed shown in the case heading.
• September 1994 — Jimerson was sentenced to 23 years in prison.