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Another victim of a restraining order
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Victim was warned of 'shooting spree'
Slain woman had sought protection
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN AND TERRI SANGINITI
Staff reporters
08/17/2002
A woman whose ex-boyfriend shot her to death Thursday outside police headquarters sought court protection from the man 10 days ago.
"He says he's going to get his gun and go on a shooting spree, and I'm first," Lettie A. Lyons, 42, said in a petition seeking a protection from abuse order.
The order was granted Aug. 5, and included a requirement that the man, Christopher M. Williams, 43, surrender his shotgun to police that day. He did not.
Williams shot Lyons about 6 p.m. Thursday as Lyons attempted to seek protection at New Castle County Police Headquarters on U.S. 13 and then shot himself to death, police said.
The couple were set to appear in Family Court on Friday for a hearing that could have extended the protection from abuse order for a year.
The order had been issued the day after Williams was accused of attacking Lyons at the house they shared in the 100 block of Stahl Ave. in Wilmington Manor, according to court records.
Lyons told police that Williams came home intoxicated and became abusive. Williams repeatedly hit Lyons, threatened to kill her and the family dog, threw a plate of food at her and smashed a cell phone she used to call 911, according to police. The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Williams then smashed in the windshield of the car that Lyons, the couple's 8-year-old son and a woman who was at the house used to escape, police and a neighbor said.
Williams was charged with threatening to kill Lyons, hitting her, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal mischief and was released on $1,250 bail. He was set to go to trial on those charges Aug. 22.
In the Aug. 5 protective order, the court directed Williams to stay away from Lyons and their son and to surrender a Mossburg 12-gauge shotgun to New Castle County Police by 5 p.m. that day.
Police said Williams used a shotgun to kill Lyons and himself but could not confirm that it was the gun identified in the protection order.
Authorities were unable to locate Williams to retrieve the shotgun he had been ordered to surrender, because Williams moved out of the Stahl Avenue house and police did not know where he went, New Castle County Police spokesman Patrolman Trinidad Navarro said.
"They were tracking down leads trying to find him," Navarro said. "They couldn't find him to serve him with court papers."
In the petition for the protection order, Lyons wrote that the Aug. 4 fight was not the first time Williams had become physically abusive. "This has been ongoing for several years," she wrote, describing a July incident when Williams accused her of coming home too late. "He pushed me on the couch, put a pillow over my face and hit me in the jaw!" wrote Lyons.
"[My son] is very frightened. He is afraid to let his father know where he's at. He's afraid to go home," Lyons wrote.
Williams and Lyons had been living together for 10 years.
Domestic violence experts were at a loss to explain what went wrong.
"She did everything right," said Cindy Mercer, director of domestic violence services for Child Inc. "Many times victims don't take the threats seriously. She did. She took action. It is just terrible."
Lyons' 20-year-old son Christopher Lyons, said his mother and Williams had a stormy relationship. "I don't know why she let him come back," he said Friday. "He's been locked up before for assaulting her."
According to court records, Williams had a history of violent offenses including convictions for threatening people, disorderly conduct and third-degree assault.
Neighbor Stella Campbell said she saw Williams smash the windshield of Lyons' car with his hand Aug. 4.
"They started arguing loudly out there," Campbell said. "I live next door and I've only seen that one incident."
But Stella Thomas, who lived across the street from the couple, said police had been called to the house several times in the six years or so since the couple moved in.
On Sunday, Williams returned to the house while family members were holding a birthday party for Christopher Lyons' girlfriend.
"He showed up, but we made him leave," Christopher said.
Christopher said Williams was to pick up his belongings Thursday while his mother was at work.
He said Williams had left the shotgun at the house when he moved out two weeks before.
Lettie Lyons had been employed for a year as a payroll processor at Payroll Management in Newark, company owner Jim Paoli said.
Williams was a truck driver with Contractors Hauling in Bear.
When Lettie Lyons returned from work Thursday with a friend and his son to pick up her 8-year-old son to go to the Blue Rocks game, Williams confronted her, Christopher Lyons said.
"He rammed her car [with a van] at the house, and he chased her," Christopher said. Lettie Lyons drove to get help at police headquarters, about a mile and a half away.
Lyons drove over a median strip and into the back parking lot, with Williams in pursuit, police said. Her friend jumped out of the car and ran into the police building yelling, "He's got a gun."
Williams rammed Lyons' vehicle again, driving the van into Lyons' open car door, police said. She was trapped, police said, and Williams got out and fired two shots, killing her.
Navarro said the two boys were in the car when the first shots rang out but didn't see Lyons get shot. "After the first shot, the 8-year-old and 15-year-old boys bolted from the car," Navarro said. One hid behind some cars in the parking lot while the other ran inside.
After a brief standoff with police, Williams turned his gun on himself.
Melanie Storniolo, a co-worker of Williams who said she had known him three years, said employees at the hauling company were shocked.
"I knew that they had their problems like everyone had their problems," she said. "I knew they were trying. Chris was going to the doctor to control his anger. I really didn't think it would come to this."
She said she talked to Williams shortly before the shooting Thursday.
"We were talking about work. He was talking about Lettie," Storniolo said. She said she told him the court-ordered separation could be good. "I said, 'Chris, you do what you gotta do. Clear your head. Let her clear hers. Everything will be fine.' "
One day later, Lettie Lyons' and Christopher Williams' 8-year-old son was staying with a family friend, and Christopher Lyons said he hoped to get custody of his brother and raise him.
Reach Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or at sosullivan@delawareonline.com. Reach Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771 or at tsanginiti@delawareonline.com.
Christopher M. Williams shot his ex-girlfriend and himself outside police headquarters.
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2002/08/17victimwaswarned.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Slain woman had sought protection
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN AND TERRI SANGINITI
Staff reporters
08/17/2002
A woman whose ex-boyfriend shot her to death Thursday outside police headquarters sought court protection from the man 10 days ago.
"He says he's going to get his gun and go on a shooting spree, and I'm first," Lettie A. Lyons, 42, said in a petition seeking a protection from abuse order.
The order was granted Aug. 5, and included a requirement that the man, Christopher M. Williams, 43, surrender his shotgun to police that day. He did not.
Williams shot Lyons about 6 p.m. Thursday as Lyons attempted to seek protection at New Castle County Police Headquarters on U.S. 13 and then shot himself to death, police said.
The couple were set to appear in Family Court on Friday for a hearing that could have extended the protection from abuse order for a year.
The order had been issued the day after Williams was accused of attacking Lyons at the house they shared in the 100 block of Stahl Ave. in Wilmington Manor, according to court records.
Lyons told police that Williams came home intoxicated and became abusive. Williams repeatedly hit Lyons, threatened to kill her and the family dog, threw a plate of food at her and smashed a cell phone she used to call 911, according to police. The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Williams then smashed in the windshield of the car that Lyons, the couple's 8-year-old son and a woman who was at the house used to escape, police and a neighbor said.
Williams was charged with threatening to kill Lyons, hitting her, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal mischief and was released on $1,250 bail. He was set to go to trial on those charges Aug. 22.
In the Aug. 5 protective order, the court directed Williams to stay away from Lyons and their son and to surrender a Mossburg 12-gauge shotgun to New Castle County Police by 5 p.m. that day.
Police said Williams used a shotgun to kill Lyons and himself but could not confirm that it was the gun identified in the protection order.
Authorities were unable to locate Williams to retrieve the shotgun he had been ordered to surrender, because Williams moved out of the Stahl Avenue house and police did not know where he went, New Castle County Police spokesman Patrolman Trinidad Navarro said.
"They were tracking down leads trying to find him," Navarro said. "They couldn't find him to serve him with court papers."
In the petition for the protection order, Lyons wrote that the Aug. 4 fight was not the first time Williams had become physically abusive. "This has been ongoing for several years," she wrote, describing a July incident when Williams accused her of coming home too late. "He pushed me on the couch, put a pillow over my face and hit me in the jaw!" wrote Lyons.
"[My son] is very frightened. He is afraid to let his father know where he's at. He's afraid to go home," Lyons wrote.
Williams and Lyons had been living together for 10 years.
Domestic violence experts were at a loss to explain what went wrong.
"She did everything right," said Cindy Mercer, director of domestic violence services for Child Inc. "Many times victims don't take the threats seriously. She did. She took action. It is just terrible."
Lyons' 20-year-old son Christopher Lyons, said his mother and Williams had a stormy relationship. "I don't know why she let him come back," he said Friday. "He's been locked up before for assaulting her."
According to court records, Williams had a history of violent offenses including convictions for threatening people, disorderly conduct and third-degree assault.
Neighbor Stella Campbell said she saw Williams smash the windshield of Lyons' car with his hand Aug. 4.
"They started arguing loudly out there," Campbell said. "I live next door and I've only seen that one incident."
But Stella Thomas, who lived across the street from the couple, said police had been called to the house several times in the six years or so since the couple moved in.
On Sunday, Williams returned to the house while family members were holding a birthday party for Christopher Lyons' girlfriend.
"He showed up, but we made him leave," Christopher said.
Christopher said Williams was to pick up his belongings Thursday while his mother was at work.
He said Williams had left the shotgun at the house when he moved out two weeks before.
Lettie Lyons had been employed for a year as a payroll processor at Payroll Management in Newark, company owner Jim Paoli said.
Williams was a truck driver with Contractors Hauling in Bear.
When Lettie Lyons returned from work Thursday with a friend and his son to pick up her 8-year-old son to go to the Blue Rocks game, Williams confronted her, Christopher Lyons said.
"He rammed her car [with a van] at the house, and he chased her," Christopher said. Lettie Lyons drove to get help at police headquarters, about a mile and a half away.
Lyons drove over a median strip and into the back parking lot, with Williams in pursuit, police said. Her friend jumped out of the car and ran into the police building yelling, "He's got a gun."
Williams rammed Lyons' vehicle again, driving the van into Lyons' open car door, police said. She was trapped, police said, and Williams got out and fired two shots, killing her.
Navarro said the two boys were in the car when the first shots rang out but didn't see Lyons get shot. "After the first shot, the 8-year-old and 15-year-old boys bolted from the car," Navarro said. One hid behind some cars in the parking lot while the other ran inside.
After a brief standoff with police, Williams turned his gun on himself.
Melanie Storniolo, a co-worker of Williams who said she had known him three years, said employees at the hauling company were shocked.
"I knew that they had their problems like everyone had their problems," she said. "I knew they were trying. Chris was going to the doctor to control his anger. I really didn't think it would come to this."
She said she talked to Williams shortly before the shooting Thursday.
"We were talking about work. He was talking about Lettie," Storniolo said. She said she told him the court-ordered separation could be good. "I said, 'Chris, you do what you gotta do. Clear your head. Let her clear hers. Everything will be fine.' "
One day later, Lettie Lyons' and Christopher Williams' 8-year-old son was staying with a family friend, and Christopher Lyons said he hoped to get custody of his brother and raise him.
Reach Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or at sosullivan@delawareonline.com. Reach Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771 or at tsanginiti@delawareonline.com.
Christopher M. Williams shot his ex-girlfriend and himself outside police headquarters.
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2002/08/17victimwaswarned.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878