By KEILE CAMPBELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
A WOMAN wiped away tears in the Supreme Court on Friday as Justice Renae McKay urged her to compose herself as she denied taking part in a 2021 shooting in which she and her daughter are accused of trying to murder their tenants in Fox Hill.
Michelle Williams, 57, and Glenresha Williams, 37, are on trial for attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Prosecutors allege that on October 28, 2021, the pair and an unidentified man tried to kill their tenants, Adrian Cooper and Savannah Bain, near Romer Street, Fox Hill.
The dispute allegedly stemmed from unpaid rent and a heated exchange after Glenresha sent a text message referencing the couple’s loss of a baby.
Taking the stand, Michelle Williams said Cooper and Bain began renting from her on July 2, 2021. She said Cooper called around 6am on the day of the shooting to ask when a plumber would arrive to fix a leak, and she told him the appointment was set for 10am.
Williams, who worked at the Registrar General’s Department, said she went briefly to her office before heading to the Fox Hill property. She claimed the plumber later called to report that Cooper refused him entry. When she arrived, she said Cooper and Bain confronted her on the road, with Bain shouting about a lost pregnancy.
Williams said she told her daughter to disengage and later offered a ride to a young man who knew Glenresha from school. As they drove toward her brother’s home on Romer Street, she noticed Cooper’s car following them.
She said the man suddenly exited the black Nissan Murano SUV and gunfire erupted. She claimed she believed the shots came from Cooper’s direction and denied that either she or her daughter had a weapon. Police, she said, later stopped and questioned them but allowed them to leave.
Earlier testimony showed Williams told police she had discussed overdue rent with the couple before the altercation and admitted to owning the Murano seen in security footage but denied blocking Cooper’s car.
Under cross-examination, prosecutors confronted her with video evidence allegedly showing her SUV blocking Cooper’s vehicle while a man fired from inside. The Crown suggested she told police the shooter was her brother’s son, which she denied. She also denied lying to the court or being the aggressor.
Glenresha Williams told the court her mother asked her that morning to accompany her to the Registrar General’s Department to deliver documents. While her mother was inside, she said she answered her mother’s phone and spoke with Cooper and the plumber.
Cooper allegedly told her he had just lost his baby, prompting her to send a message saying they would not have lost the child “if they weren’t on drugs.”
Later that morning, she said Bain confronted her near Romer Street, asking her to repeat what she said in the message. She testified that she later saw a man she recognised from school, identified as “Ronaldo,” and that her mother suspected Cooper was following them. When they turned onto her uncle’s street, she said the man exited their vehicle and began shooting, causing her to duck for cover.
She said police soon stopped and searched their SUV but found nothing and let them go. Glenresha told the court she had not seen the man in eight years, denied possessing a firearm, and rejected the Crown’s suggestion that she helped plan the attack.
Prosecutors maintain that no man named Ronaldo was involved and that both defendants fabricated their story. Residents told police they heard gunfire that morning but did not see what happened, according to earlier testimony.
Earlier in the trial, Cooper testified that Williams blocked his car with her Murano and that a man in the back seat fired shots at him and his fiancée, reportedly saying he was “lucky to be alive.” He also told the court the defendant “didn’t seem like the type of person who would bring a gunman to shoot us.”
Investigating officer Inspector Melbert Munroe said he interviewed both accused on October 30, 2021. Michelle Williams denied blocking the complainant’s car or having a gunman in her vehicle. Glenresha admitted to sending the text message but denied involvement in the shooting.
The man alleged to have been the gunman died before the trial began. Raphael Moxey represents the accused, while T’shura Ambrose and Ashton Williams appear for the Crown.
The case is expected to resume today at 9.30am for closing arguments before Justice McKay.
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