Williams friend: Larry was a ‘caring daddy’
Defense’s case gets going in homicide-by-abuse trial
Posted: Saturday, August 24, 2013 6:00 am
By Gina Cole and Daniel DeMay
MOUNT VERNON — A neighbor of the Williams family broke down in tears during testimony Friday afternoon about what she witnessed on her last visit to the family’s home.
Kerina Crane met Carri and Larry Williams before they adopted two Ethiopian children. She said Friday through her own tears that Carri Williams was “bawling” when Kerina went to the Williams home “not long” after Carri’s adopted daughter Hana collapsed in their backyard and died of hypothermia hastened by malnutrition.
Larry and Carri Williams are charged with homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter in Hana’s May 2011 death and with first-degree assault of a child for alleged abuse of their adopted son. They have each pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Crane was one of the first witnesses called by the defense. For scheduling reasons, prosecutors still have one witness left, set to testify Monday.
Crane testified that she never — in her almost weekly and often unannounced visits to the Williams home — saw Hana or the adopted son excluded from any activities and only once saw the boy disciplined by being placed in “time out.”
The boy testified earlier in the trial that he and Hana were excluded from many family celebrations, including holidays, and were disciplined more harshly and more frequently than the Williamses’ biological children. Several biological Williams children confirmed on the stand that their adopted siblings were punished more, but said it was because they disobeyed more often.
The defense also called Crane’s husband, who carpooled to work in Everett with Larry Williams for much of 2009.
Mike Crane’s testimony was similar to his wife’s, although he said he had significantly less contact with the Williams family.
Defense witness Audrey Anderson, a church friend of the Williamses, testified that Larry Williams was “a caring daddy” who sat with his adopted son in church on Sundays.
Anderson said neither child was excluded during her observations at church or her three visits to the Williams home before Hana died.
None of the three witnesses Friday afternoon said they saw anything unusual in the children’s physiques leading up to Hana’s death.
Friday morning, a forensic anthropologist testified Hana was probably about 15 when she died, but could have been any age between 14 and 17. The girl’s age is key in the case because the homicide-by-abuse charge applies only if she was younger than 16.
Examinations of Hana’s body have not pinpointed her age. Instead, expert witnesses involved in those exams have offered ranges, all of which have spanned both sides of age 16.
A man believed to be Hana’s biological cousin testified she would have been about 13, which is consistent with a birthdate estimate on Hana’s adoption records. But the man’s motives for testifying came into question after he failed to catch a plane back to Ethiopia and left behind in his hotel a family heirloom containing a note on Hana’s birth.
Katherine Taylor, a forensic anthropologist who works in the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, analyzed X-rays of the girl’s bones after her body was exhumed in January. She explained to the jury Friday how various bones and growth plates in Hana’s body give clues about her age.
Two forensic dentists, one testifying for the defense and one for the prosecution, have said Hana was likely at least 15 when she died. One gave a range of 13 to 18; the other said he was confident she was between 14.75 and 17.75 years old.
Defense attorneys plan to call more witnesses next week. The trial is expected to last through the second week of September.
— Reporter Daniel DeMay: 360-416-2192, ddemay@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Daniel_SVH
— Reporter Gina Cole: 360-416-2148, gcole@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Gina_SVH, facebook.com/byGinaCole