Williams adopted son: Mother, siblings mocked stricken girl

Williams adopted son: Mother, siblings mocked stricken girl

Parents charged with abusing adopted daughter to death

. Nick Gonzales / Skagit Valley Herald

Posted: Friday, August 9, 2013 8:00 am | Updated: 9:16 am, Fri Aug 9, 2013.

By Gina Cole

MOUNT VERNON — In the hours before Hana Williams collapsed in her adoptive family’s backyard and succumbed to hypothermia, her adoptive mother and siblings watched her limping and seemed to be “laughing at her,” the family’s adopted son testified Thursday.

At Skagit Valley Hospital later that night, emergency physician Janette Tomlinson told Larry and Carri Williams their adopted daughter had died. Larry got “teary-eyed,” but Carri was calm and talkative, the doctor testified.

“She was not real distraught,” Tomlinson said.

Larry and Carri Williams are standing trial on charges of homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter in Hana’s death, and first-degree assault of their adopted son. They have pleaded not guilty.

Tomlinson said she was surprised Hana died of hypothermia because it didn’t make sense to her “that a teenage girl wouldn’t know to come in out of the cold” at her own home. Defense attorneys have asserted Hana refused to come inside, but prosecutors have pointed out Hana was often sent outside as a punishment.

Tomlinson examined Hana’s body after pronouncing her dead at 1:30 a.m. on May 12, 2011. She noticed marks on Hana’s thighs — the same ones a forensic pathologist who performed her autopsy said suggested the girl had recently been struck “at least 14 times” with an implement like the one the Williamses used to discipline their children.

Calling Child Protective Services is common practice if a child dies, but Tomlinson said she did not call because they were already on their way. However, if Hana had come to the emergency room alive for some other reason, and had those marks on her legs, CPS would have been called, Tomlinson said.

The Williamses’ family doctor, Harold Clark, testified Thursday that he never noticed bruises or marks on any of the Williams children and never noticed any “concerning interaction” with their parents that might have warranted calling authorities.

Clark last saw Hana in April 2009, about two years before she died, and last saw the adopted boy in July 2010.

The adopted boy, who is about 12 years old and deaf, testified Thursday through sign-language interpreters that he thought his adoptive parents “were kinda nuts.”

He has previously said in court that his parents hit him with a switch or a belt, sometimes on the bottom of his feet or his head, if he disobeyed them. He also said they sometimes made him eat meals outside, even if it was snowing.

Defense lawyer Rachel Forde asked the boy Thursday about the pain and marks from being hit, saying, “But it was only temporary, wasn’t it?”

When Forde asked the boy about behavioral problems he had when he entered foster care, he said he was having flashbacks of what had happened at the Williams house. A therapist has diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder and pointed to abuse in the Williams house as the cause.

The boy told Forde his foster family is “very nice.”

“They didn’t beat me, spank me or anything,” he said.

Forde spent much of Thursday morning wrangling with interpreters over the sign-language translations of “spank,” “beat,” “whip” and other such words, trying to clarify that the connotation of what she said in her questions was coming across in the translation to American Sign Language.

Forde formally subpoenaed court-certified deaf interpreter Clyde Vincent, who has been translating for the boy, as well as the boy’s victim advocate, who has accompanied him in conversations with prosecutors.

Forde said she is not sure she’ll call Vincent to the stand but wants the opportunity to do so.

Thursday was the first time race has come up in the almost three weeks of the trial, and it got only a passing mention, as Forde asked the boy, who was adopted from Ethiopia: “Your new family looked more like you than the Williamses, right? … And your new family had dark skin, just like you, right?”

She then moved on to another topic.

The boy’s testimony ended with Forde repeatedly suggesting Detective Teresa Luvera of the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office told him things about his parents and about Hana’s death. He repeated back to Forde that Luvera had only asked questions.

“I said no,” he said through his interpreter, who raised her voice to reflect the boy’s growing agitation. “Asking me that question again and again — it’s enough! I said Teresa didn’t tell me anything.”

An Ethiopian man believed to be Hana’s biological cousin is scheduled to testify Friday afternoon. His testimony has had to be rescheduled twice as the court awaits an interpreter.

— Reporter Gina Cole: 360-416-2148, gcole@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Gina_SVH, facebook.com/byGinaCole

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Williams adopted son: Mother, siblings mocked stricken girl

Posted: Thursday, August 8, 2013 1:30 pm

by GINA COLE

MOUNT VERNON — In the hours before Hana Williams collapsed in her adoptive family’s backyard and succumbed to hypothermia, her adoptive mother and siblings watched her limping and seemed to be “laughing at her,” the family’s adoptive son testified this morning.

Larry and Carri Williams are standing trial on charges they abused Hana to death and assaulted the adopted boy. They have pleaded not guilty.

The boy, who is deaf, testified today through sign-language interpreters he thought his adoptive parents “were kinda nuts.”

He has previously said in court that Larry and Carri hit him with a switch or a belt, sometimes on the bottom of his feet or his head, if he disobeyed them. He also said they sometimes made him eat meals outside, even if it was snowing.

The boy told defense attorney Rachel Forde his foster family is “very nice.”

“They didn’t beat me, spank me or anything,” he said.

Forde spent much of the morning wrangling with interpreters over the sign-language translations of “spank,” “beat,” “whip” and other such words, trying to clarify that the connotation of what she said in her questions was coming across in the translation to American Sign Language.

Forde then formally subpoenaed court-certified deaf interpreter Clyde Vincent, who has been translating for the boy, as well as the boy’s victim advocate, who has accompanied him in conversations with prosecutors.

Forde said she is not sure whether she’ll call Vincent to the stand but said she wants the opportunity to do so.

— Reporter Gina Cole: 360-416-2148, gcole@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Gina_SVH, facebook.com/byGinaCole