17-year-old arrested for shooting mother

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A 17-year-old east-Houma boy was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for the accidental shooting death of his mother, police said.

In a crime that one police veteran called “the saddest thing” hes ever seen, 38-year-old Patricia Williams was shot to death just two days before Christmas inside her house. Police say the gunman was her own son, Anthony Obrian Williams, and her two daughters, one of them just 11 years old, witnessed the shooting.

According to police, Anthony was playing with a semiautomatic handgun in the house Saturday night when Williams told him to put it away. Not realizing it was loaded, Anthony accidentally shot his mom in the head when he didn’t follow her instructions, police said.

“From what the witnesses said and what hes indicating, he didn’t mean to shoot her,” said Houma Police Detective Jude McElroy. “He was playing with the gun and ultimately pulled the trigger and killed his mama.”

The bullet hit Williams in the head, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Robert Nevis, who identified himself as Patricia Williams stepfather, said Patricia was a quiet woman who stayed in her house and didn’t bother anybody. He said the family is taking Patricia’s death and Anthony’s arrest hard.

“She was a good mom,” Nevis said of Patricia. “She never went anywhere. She took care of her children. She don’t bother nobody.”

Nevis said the family didn’t know Anthony had a gun or where he might have gotten it.

Anthony was questioned by police Saturday night, along with other people inside the house when the shooting took place, McElroy said. Besides Anthony and Patricia, police said four other people were in the house n Williams older daughter, whose age was not provided; that daughter’s baby, the baby’s father; and Patricia Williams 11-year-old daughter.

Patricia Williams was a single mother and shared her apartment with her two daughters, her son and the baby, McElroy said.

Before the shooting, Williams had been sleeping. She got up to visit with her daughters, the baby and the baby’s father.

Anthony arrived at some point and began playing with the gun, police said. He allegedly ignored Patricia Williams repeated requests to put the weapon away.

How Anthony shot Patricia in the head isn’t clear, police said. They say, however, that all four family members n including Patricia Williams 11-year-old daughter n witnessed the shooting.

“It’s unclear if he intentionally walked up to her and pointed it at her head,” McElroy said. “He thought it was unloaded, and he was playing with her and it killed her. Gun play, its just a sad situation.”

Police retrieved the weapon suspected to have been used in the shooting, a semiautomatic handgun, from the apartment’s roof. It was thrown there by Anthony who panicked after the shooting, McElroy said.

Police said they had enough evidence to charge Anthony with second-degree murder in the death of his mother. As of Monday afternoon the teenager is being held at the Terrebonne Parish jail in lieu of a $150,000 bond.