Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 9-18-20

Feature
Mom Grateful Murder Trial Over; 1 More Trial Ahead
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
It has been nearly six years since the death of 9- year-old Felecia Nichole Williams. The girl disap- peared from a Temple Ter- race Apartment Complex ion May 18th. Her body was found the following day in the water off of Clearwater.
Amid all of the legal post- ponements and continua- tions, it has taken nearly 6 years for her accused killer to be brought to justice.
Now that the trial is over and the verdict has been handed down, her mother, Ms. Felecia Demerson said, “I am grateful that this is finally over. It took five years, but my baby can now rest in peace because justice has been done.”
Detectives with the Tem- ple Terrace Police Depart- ment were notified that the
FELECIA DEMERSON
... Mother of Felecia Williams
child was missing around 10 p.m., on May 16th. Her body was discovered floating near the Courtney Campbell Causeway Bridge two days later.
Police identified Granville T. Richie, now 41, as the man who had picked up Wiley and the lit- tle girl. Wiley admitted she had only known Ritchie for a few days.
Ritchie was convicted of
raping the child, choking her to death, and placing her body in a suitcase to remove it from the apartment. He re- portedly dumped her body in Tampa Bay.
Last September, a jury found Ritchie guilty of first- degree murder, sexual bat- tery on a minor, and aggravated child abuse. Last week, a jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.
This is the first murder case in Hillsborough County since the law changed to re- quire a unanimous vote by jurors before the death penalty can be handed down. It is also the first death penalty conviction under the leadership of Andrew War- ren as the Hillsborough County State Attorney.
Wiley Trial
The final stage of the journey for Ms. Demerson and her family is the trial of
EBONI WILEY
Ms. Eboni Wiley, a friend of the family, who was trusted with the safety of the child. Ms. Demerson said
she is mentally preparing for that.
Ms. Wiley was arrested at the time of the investiga- tion and charged with giving false information to law en- forcement officers during an investigation involving a child under the age of 16 who is the subject of the investi- gation suffers great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death. If convicted, Ms. Wiley is facing a 5-year prison sentence.
Her trial is scheduled for October 22, 2020. It will be the first trial after the re- opening of the courts follow- ing the COVID-19 shutdowns.
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