The Akron Legal News

Murder conviction affirmed for Cuyahoga County man

ANNIE YAMSON
Special to the Legal News
Published: January 31, 2014

The 8th District Court of Appeals recently affirmed the judgment of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas finding Terial Willis guilty of felony murder with attached firearm specifications, felonious assault, having weapons under disability and tampering with evidence.

Willis’ convictions stemmed from a 911 call placed on June 30, 2012 during which a male caller requested assistance for a female shot in her arm.

In the 911 recording, which was played for the jury, the caller said there was serious bleeding but denied any involvement and said he was no longer with the victim.

The caller was later determined to be Willis.

Despite the 911 operator’s attempts to get him to return to the victim, Willis simply kept saying, “Can’t go in there, got nothing to do with it.”

Sgt. Mark Ortiz of the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority was the first to respond to the scene where he found Takella Giles dead in a corner and her 2-year-old son unharmed sleeping in the next room. Willis was the father of the boy.

A deputy medical examiner determined that the cause of Giles’ death was a gunshot wound to the right shoulder with internal injuries to the organs.

He also identified other recent injuries including an abrasion to the neck, a laceration to the back of the head with underlying hemorrhages and bruising to the back of the head.

During trial, the state presented photographs of the murder scene that showed a trail of blood leading to the bedroom, a mattress with blood on it, blood at the foot of the bed and a kitchen knife on the floor.

The police also discovered a .40-caliber casing near the knife.

Cleveland police officer Thomas Armelli testified during Willis’ trial that he handled the investigation into Giles’ homicide.

On the night of the murder, he interviewed Ray Broom, Willis’ best friend.

Broom directed the police to a dumpster where police recovered a bag that contained a pair of blood-stained, tan cargo shorts. The blood was later matched to Giles.

DNA found on the waistband of the shorts matched Willis and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Willis was found 12 days later in an apartment where he was hiding in a closet covered by two dressers. He refused to exit and had to be tased in order for police to remove him.

Willis told the police that he was not involved in Giles’ death.

He admitted that he was wearing a black T-shirt and orange shorts on the day of the murder but said that he did “not know where they (were).”

During trial, Broom testified that Willis came to his house on the night of the shooting and that he was wearing a black shirt and bloody shorts.

He told the court that Willis was upset, crying and shaking.

Broom stated that he “felt sorry” for Willis and contacted the police, leading them to the dumpster where the bloody shorts were discarded. He also told police that he saw Willis with a black gun on the night of the murder.

Giles’ sister, Lucketta, also testified during trial.

She stated that she had been on the phone with Giles’ on the day of the shooting and that she heard Willis and Giles arguing.

According to Lucketta, she heard Willis in the background saying, “Give me the phone. If I come back something bad is going to happen.”

Karen Osborn, a fried of Giles, was in the hallway of the apartment building when she also heard Willis and Giles arguing. She told the court that she heard Willis tell Giles, “You’re going to die today.”

The Cuyahoga County court ordered Willis to serve an aggregate sentence of 18 years to life in prison.

Upon appeal, Willis contended that the state failed to present sufficient evidence to support his conviction for murder.

“The gravamen of Willis’ argument is that the state failed to prove that he ‘knowingly’ caused Takella’s death,” wrote Judge Mary Boyle on behalf of the court of appeals.

Willis emphasized the location of the single gunshot wound, arguing that “if one wanted to inflict death, the shot would not have been to the arm and more shots would have been fired.”

Willis also cited his grief and guilt as evidence that he “did not intend for this to happen.”

“Willis’ arguments, however, are misplaced,” wrote Judge Boyle. “Under Ohio’s felony-murder doctrine, ‘a defendant may be held criminally liable for the unintended death that results from the commission of a first or second degree felony.’”

The district’s three-judge appellate panel held that the state did not have to prove that Willis knowingly intended to cause Giles’ death.

“Rather, the state had to present sufficient evidence that Willis caused (her) death as a proximate result of his felonious assault against her,” wrote Judge Boyle. “Based on the record before us, the state clearly satisfied its burden.”

The panel noted that Willis did not dispute that he fired the shot or that the wound caused Giles’ death.

While it acknowledged that Willis did not intend to kill Giles, it held that the evidence that he fired a shot was overwhelming and sufficient to establish the “requisite mens rea for the felonious assault — the underlying predicate offense of the felony murder count.”

The court of appeals proceeded to overrule the remainder of Willis’ assignments of error which included arguments that the court erred in its jury instructions, that it should have granted his motion for a mistrial and that the prosecutor failed to comply with discovery.

He also claimed that he should have been found guilty of the lesser-included offense of reckless homicide, but Judge Boyle noted that Willis never testified in support of a theory of recklessness during trial.

The judgment of the Cuyahoga County court was ultimately affirmed with judges Tim McCormack and Eileen T. Gallagher concurring.

The case is cited State v. Willis, 2013-Ohio-114.

[Back]