The DuPage County jury that convicted Jacqueline Annette Williams of murder for the 1995 slayings of Debra Evans and two of her children could decide Tuesday whether Williams is eligible for the death penalty.
The jurors reported to court Monday, but they were sent home as prosecutors and defense lawyers worked with Circuit Judge Peter Dockery to complete the complicated language of the jury instructions.
Williams was convicted Friday of murder and aggravated kidnapping in the deaths of Evans, 28; her daughter, Samantha, 10; and her son Joshua, 7. Evans’ full-term fetus was cut from her womb, and the newborn, a boy, was in Williams’ arms when she was arrested in her Schaumburg townhouse less than 24 hours after the crimes.
When a person is convicted of murder in a case that could carry a death sentence, a jury or a judge must first decide whether the defendant is eligible for that penalty.
After hearing testimony in aggravation and mitigation, the jury or judge must decide whether the defendant should be sentenced to death.
In the Williams case, before the jury can consider the eligibility question, it must first be briefed and instructed about Illinois’ death-penalty statute. The statute specifies the crimes that carry the death penalty, but it leaves room for interpretation.
The lawyers must ensure that the jury is instructed in accordance with numerous state and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
Williams could be eligible for the death penalty for a number of reasons, including that there were multiple victims and two of them were younger than 12.
There are other criteria pertaining to defendants who know about, but don’t actually participate in, a killing.
Testimony at Williams’ trial indicated she was present at Debra Evans’ apartment when Debra and Samantha Evans were killed. But there was no direct evidence linking her to the actual killings.
But prosecutors contended Williams had a motive for the crimes. Trial testimony revealed that she had faked being pregnant and that she wanted a light-skinned newborn for her boyfriend.
Williams confessed to kidnapping the newborn cut from Evans’ womb, but she denied killing anyone.
In the case of Joshua Evans, who was killed apparently because he had witnessed the slaying of his mother and sister, there was testimony indicating Williams had tried to poison the boy and had held him down before he was fatally stabbed, allegedly by Williams’ live-in boyfriend, Fedell Caffey. Caffey is in jail awaiting trial for the crimes.
“This is a situation where there seems to be a lot of nuances,” said Pat O’Brien, a Chicago criminal defense lawyer and former first assistant Cook County state’s attorney familiar with such cases.
Under two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, people who are indirectly responsible for slayings are eligible for the death penalty only if they “knew or should have known” that their actions would cause death or great bodily harm.
The instructions given to jurors must take all these nuances into account so that the sentencing is not overturned on appeal.
