A man accused of killing a woman in front of her children in the District last summer made his first appearance in D.C. Superior Court Thursday.
Wonell Jones ignored a protective order when he killed Audora Williams on Knox Place in July, police said. U.S. marshals found jones in Florida two months ago.
Five members of Audora Williams’ family were in the courtroom when her accused killer went before the judge.
“I just wanted to see his face,” Williams’ grandmother Norma Shorter said. “I just wanted to see how he looked after just murdering somebody in cold blood.”
Williams was home in the middle of the afternoon taking care of her children when Jones, armed with two pistols, shot her multiple times, police said.
Police found more than 25 shell casings, and the medical examiner found more than 30 gunshot wounds.
“For somebody to take somebody’s life, and you run out and leave your own kids, I don’t have no sympathy for him,” Williams’ cousin Diane Dancy said.
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Williams’ family says Jones was the father of several of the children inside the apartment that day and the two had a volatile relationship. Williams had gone to court seeking protection from Jones.
“Everywhere she went, he seemed to find out where she was,” Shorter said. “She went to safe houses, she went, had stay-away orders. Everywhere she went, this guy found her.”
In a court affidavit, police released photos showing Jones going into the apartment that day and leaving after the shooting.
Williams’ family says the children all are receiving therapy after witnessing their mother’s violent death.
Williams’ family says there were eight children inside the apartment the day she was killed.
In Thursday’s hearing, the judge noted Jones never should have been in the apartment with a stay away order in place.
