WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jury deliberations in the trial of Semmie Williams Jr. started on Thursday.
Williams faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of 14-year-old Ryan Rogers, who was riding his bike near his home in Palm Beach Gardens in November 2021 when police said he was randomly attacked and stabbed to death by Williams, who had no ties to the community or the teen.
On Thursday morning, the judge granted the state's order to examine Williams' competency. Williams also handed the judge a document stating he no longer wants his lawyer's services, and the judge left her chambers to review it.
Before the judge left the room, Williams again mentioned being physically harmed by electronic devices.
After a short recess, the judge proceeded to ask Williams questions under oath about why he wanted to remove his attorneys from the trial. Williams stated that he feels he is not getting a fair trial because of the way evidence is being presented. Williams also said he would like to review all the case facts, the case report, gang stalking videos and more.
Palm Beach Gardens
Semmie Williams Jr. takes stand in trial, claims 'gang stalking' harassment
The judge told Williams that the court still has the right to ensure his constitutional rights are being protected, and in this particular instance, based on Williams' schizophrenia diagnosis. The judge assured Williams that he would have the opportunity to communicate with the jury.
Williams said he would like to review Ryan's clothing because he suspects Ryan was dressed to be a symbolic human sacrifice.
When it was time for the defense to question Williams, they showed a video from his YouTube channel. Williams said he has 300 videos that document gang stalking. In this video in particular, he described the man in the video, calling him a satanist who was making a pyramid and was wearing red to symbolize human sacrifice.
Williams went on to say he believes he was set up for the crime by the Masons based on numerology due to Ryan's birth date, age at which he was killed and how it occurred by I-95.
The defense asked Williams to describe how dark it was at the scene at night. Williams said he was sleeping in the bushes when a man approached him and told him where he could go to get help. Then, he heard someone screaming for help and saw someone attacking Ryan. He went to grab a flashlight out of his bag and that was when blood got inside his bag.
Williams said that if he had killed Ryan, people on the side of the road would have seen it.
The judge said Williams was deemed competent to stand trial by a doctor on Wednesday night.
The state and the defense have both rested. After the lunch break, the jury was given instructions for deliberations before the state and defense made their closing arguments.
In its closing arguments, the state focused on DNA evidence linking Williams to the scene, surveillance footage of Williams making his way to Palm Beach Gardens and reiterated that the killing of Rogers was premeditated.
"Ryan was a mile and a half from his home, and unfortunately he was on a violent collision course with this man. That violent course ended his life because this defendant violently and viciously attacked him," said Assistant State Attorney Jo Wilensky.
The defense argued we don't know how secure the crime scene was, and that initially the case was not considered a homicide. Attorney Courtney Wilson said no evidence shows Williams had any premeditated intent to kill Rogers.
"Every question you have back in that jury room is a reasonable question and every doubt is reasonable," she said.
A verdict was not reached by Thursday evening. The the jury will reconvene on Friday morning.
