Akeem Williams Convicted of Murder, Gun Possession at Re-Trial
ELMIRA, NY (WENY) -- After deliberations spilled over into Thursday morning, a Chemung County jury has come back with a verdict of guilty on all counts against Akeem Williams of Elmira.
Williams was on trial for the second time for the 2016 shooting death of Tiko Head in Elmira. Prosecutors say the two men got into an argument over an Xbox in an apartment when the shooting happened. Head died of a single gunshot wound. Williams fled the scene and was taken into custody later that day in West Elmira.
A jury trial in Chemung County court earlier this year resulted in a hung jury; the judge declared a mistrial.
This time, the jury reached a guilty verdict on both Second Degree Murder and 2nd Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, late Thursday morning, after deliberations ended for the day late Wednesday.
The Chemung County District Attorney's Office hopes the verdict helps provide closure for Tiko Head's family.
"A sense of relief, primarily for the family of Tiko Head. It's our hope that this is going to bring them some sense of satisfaction, some sense of relief for the loss that was sustained with the death of their son," said Chief ADA John Thweatt.
"It's closure for us, it's great. It's the second time we've been through this, it's been a long road and now we can finally get closure," said Mary Jones, Tiko Head's mother.
When asked about his client's immediate reaction, Defense Attorney John Brennan said Williams was disappointed.
"I think he's disappointed, but he has expressed to me throughout the case that he feels extremely bad that this resulted in the death of a person. So I think it's just disappointment all around," said Brennan.
Brennan said while they're upset with the outcome, he respected the jury for their careful deliberations.
"Well we're upset at the outcome of the jury verdict. I have a lot of respect for it, and the jury did a great job of considering all of the evidence and weighing that. I commend them for a job well done."
Williams is now scheduled to be sentenced on December 8th in Chemung County court. A second degree murder charge faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.