Vigil held for BTW slaying victim Lacosta Williams

On the same day three suspects appeared in court in connection with Monday’s shooting death of Lacosta Williams, more than 65 relatives and friends gathered at Booker T. Washington Apartments Friday afternoon for a candlelight vigil.

Many called for an end to gun violence outside Building 412 and near the apartment where Williams, 33, collapsed after he was shot during what police called a robbery that went wrong. “It tore my family to pieces,” said Leasah Griggs, the victim’s cousin from Salem, Ala. “They say stop the violence but as long as they make them, they are not going to stop.”

Two days after Williams was shot, Griggs said the family learned that her grandmother and the victim’s great aunt died. “We have two funerals to attend,” she said.

Chelora Williams described her brother, a barber, as a person who was loved by the neighborhood children because he would cut their hair for free.

“What I’m going to miss the most is him constantly calling me,” the sister said. “I know when I look at my phone, it won’t be him. That is what I’m going to miss the most.”

She was at the apartments a week ago to pick up some money from him to get his children some shoes. She will never forget what he said as they left to go shopping. “He said y’all be safe. I love y’all,” she said.

Harvey Williams, an uncle from College Park, said he couldn’t understand why anyone would hurt his nephew. “Obviously, whoever did this didn’t know him because he would have given his last to them,” he said.

Lacosta Williams came to stay with Harvey in the Atlanta area last summer. He had a job and moved out on his own before eventually moving back to Columbus.

“I think it might have been that he really missed his kids and wanted to come back here,” he said.

Murder suspects appear in court

During a hearing Friday morning in Columbus Recorder’s Court, police said Lacosta Williams was shot once inside an apartment around 4 p.m., where he had been watching his two young sons. After being shot, he walked out of the apartment’s front door and collapsed. Williams was pronounced dead minutes later at Midtown Medical Center.

Detective Katina Williams testified that numerous witnesses have come forward with details about the homicide. She said four men entered into the back of Lacosta Williams’ apartment, struggled with him and fired two shots, before fleeing back toward Sixth Avenue. None of them wore masks.

Police say the suspects — 29-year-old Corey Jenkins, 25-year-old Reginald Warren, 22-year-old Stephen James and an unnamed fourth man — planned the robbery with 29-year-old Candace Bryant, who lived nearby in BTW.

James, Warren and Bryant each faced several charges, including murder. Each pleaded not guilty to all charges.

James was arrested on Wednesday, police said. Bryant and Warren were each arrested on Thursday, according to jail records. Bryant was taken into custody at her mother’s home. Warren turned himself in to police.

Jenkins is still at large. He is described as a 5-foot-2, 115 pound black man.

Police officials said they expect to name the fifth suspect soon.

Witnesses told police that Bryant had met with the men at least twice in her apartment, including earlier on the day of the shooting, according to testimony. The men allegedly watched from inside Bryant’s apartment until Lacosta Williams’ girlfriend, who is the mother of his children, left and then they went to rob him.

Lacosta Williams’ 7-year-old son followed his father out of the apartment’s front door, after Lacosta Williams had been shot, the detective testified. His 3-year-old son followed the shooters out of the back door.

“My daddy’s hurt,” he said, according to Katina Williams’ testimony.

The detective testified that the suspects believed Lacosta Williams had money and drugs in his apartment. Witnesses later told police that the suspects didn’t recover anything from the residence.

Katina Williams testified that when Bryant was arrested, she confirmed to police that two men had been in her apartment before the shooting, but that she did not know what they were talking about or why they were there. Bryant denied having any involvement with the robbery.

In court, she was visibly upset as Katina Williams recounted witness statements about her role in Lacosta Williams’ death.

A witness had initially come forward with an alibi for James, but later recanted, according to the detective’s testimony. That witness said that, in fact, she had been with James on the Chattahoochee RiverWalk, just before the shooting, when he left in a vehicle. When James returned about 30-45 minutes later, he was sweating and upset and told the woman that a robbery had just gone wrong and someone had been shot.

Katina Williams testified that weapons were recovered during James’ arrest, but was unable to specify the kind of weapon — or the kind of weapon that was used in the shooting.

Neighbors said Lacosta Williams often visited the BTW Apartments, according to previous Ledger-Enquirer reports. Others said the victim was a barber who often cut hair for the kids in the neighborhood.

Detective Williams said in court that she worried for the safety of Lacosta Williams’ girlfriend and children, who still live in the apartment complex. Judge Michael Cielinski said he was unable to do anything about the defendants’ families — he only had authority over the defendants.

Cielinski did not set a bond for any of the murder charges. Bryant, James and Warren each faced two counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime, one count of criminal attempt/armed robbery and two counts of cruelty to children in the third degree.

Warren and James each additionally faced one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Cielinski set a combined bond of $75,000 for Bryant and $100,000 each for James and Warren.

Lacosta’s death is the 19th homicide in Columbus this year.

This story was originally published October 31, 2014 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Vigil held for BTW slaying victim Lacosta Williams."