Researching Willie Williams

He was born in 1959 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and raised in Sheffield, England, son of Robert Woodman Williams, a singer & medical practitioner who was an early pioneer in the then fledgling field of physiotherapy and who also sang with South Yorkshire Opera. Williams excelled at mathematics and science in school and planned to study physics at University College, London. The advent of punk rock caused him to enter the music scene instead, and he began doing lights for various bands such as Writz, Deaf School and Stiff Little Fingers.

Willie Williams has been responsible for the design of U2's tours from 1982 onward, most famously the extravagant, bewildering Zoo TV Tour (1992–93), and most recently the Innocence + Experience Tour (2015), the Joshua Tree Tours 2017 and 2019, and the Experience + Innocence Tour (2018). He has also worked with musical artists such as R.E.M., David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, Darren Hayes and George Michael.

Williams has designed for the Montreal-based dance company La La La Human Steps. Other collaborations have been with Laurie Anderson, Marianne Faithfull and the Kronos Quartet, most notably on Sun Rings, a joint effort with NASA that combines the string quartet's music with video and audio material collected by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft.

Williams had returned to the neighborhood after a long absence to find that several people including Alfonda R. Madison, William L. Dent, and Eric Howard had taken over his drug dealing in the area. He decided to regain control and to do this decided to murder the three. He enlisted the help of his 16-year-old girlfriend, Jessica M. Cherry; her brother, Dominic M. Cherry; and Dominic Cherry's seventeen-year-old "cousin", Broderick Boone.

On the night of September 1, after Jessica Cherry had previously gone to the house of Madison to discuss a drug deal, Williams arrived with the three accomplices. All but Williams went into the house, where they drew guns on Madison. Using walkie-talkies they signaled for Williams to enter the house. Madison was handcuffed and his mouth taped with duct tape. Theodore Wynn, Jr. then arrived at the house, looking for Madison and Howard. Jessica answered the door and told Wynn the two weren't home. Williams realized that Wynn could identify them, so he got Jessica to call him back into the house. Wynn was then handcuffed and gagged. Jessica was then instructed by Williams to use a payphone to call Dent and get him to come to the house. He arrived with Howard and the two were ambushed by Williams and the other three, and forced into the bathroom. Williams then proceeded to strangle Madison and Wynn, and then shot the four victims in the head with a gun owned by Madison.

Dominic Cherry turned himself in to police on September 24. Police then arrested Jessica Cherry and Broderick. The three were held at Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. Williams was then arrested but escaped on October 15 and while a fugitive was indicted on four counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary.

His next action was on January 12, 1992 when he and two other men went to the Juvenile Justice Center and tricked the receptionist into letting them enter. He then held the receptionist and deputy sheriff hostage while demanding to see Jessica, Dominic and Broderick. He would later testify that he planned to kill the three to stop them being witnesses at his trial. He later surrendered and was re-indicted on twelve counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary. The three juveniles pleaded guilty to delinquency by reason of complicity to aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated burglary, and complicity to kidnapping. Williams pleaded not guilty but was convicted on all counts and was sentenced to death on the four aggravated murder convictions.

Police think that Williams may have killed up to ten other people during his criminal career. He had previously done five years in a California prison for cocaine trafficking Bank robbery. He had also once walked into a police station in Youngstown and asked for information on rival drug dealers in the area.

The Ohio Parole Board recommended that Governor Bob Taft not give clemency in this case, which he withheld on October 24.

He was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m. EDT on October 25, 2005 after the lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. He did not have a last meal request, though did have a cup of coffee. In his final statement he said:

I'm not going to waste no time talking about my lifestyle, my case, my punishment. Mom, you've been there for me from the beginning. I love you. To my nieces, nephew and uncle I love you very much. Y'all stick together. Don't worry about me. I'm OK.

Born in Orangeburg or Holly Hill, South Carolina, Williams began his career with the Newark Eagles franchise in 1945 and remained with it through 1951, even as the team changed locations - it became the Houston Eagles in 1949 and then the New Orleans Eagles in 1951.

He began his minor league career in 1951, signing with the Chicago White Sox and playing for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, with whom he hit .297 with four home runs in 20 games. He split 1952 in the White Sox and St. Louis Browns system, hitting .256 in 102 games. In 1953, he suited up for the Carman Cardinals of the independent Mandak League.

On August 23, 2011, he died at the age of 86 in Sarasota, Florida.