A career as a Deputy District Attorney is like no other career in the legal profession. It takes a particular type of person to be a DDA, with one commonality among all attorneys at the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office: a driving passion to legally pursue criminals who inflict harm on the people who live, work and visit San Bernardino County.
During his 31 year career, Deputy District Attorney Kent Williams handled 43 homicide cases. He retired in March of 2020, and all the way to his last day, the passion described above was evident as he walked out the door.
Kent started in the central division, where he was assigned for three months until he moved over to the Redlands division. After another three or four months, Kent was assigned to the west-end division, where he served for the remainder of his career.
Obtaining justice for victims of serious crimes was a passion for Kent. Whether considered a good thing or not, one thing that happens to anyone involved in the criminal justice system is to be affected by cases that remain with them for the rest of their lives. From the details of the case investigation to the trial and sentencing, the peculiarities of these more significant cases never go away. More importantly, for Kent, the memories of how he helped the countless victims’ families over the years seek justice for the horrors they experienced made the numerous night time and weekend hours worth it.
“I think you really do have a sense that you’re doing something highly significant. It’s not just about making money or winning as there might be in a civil case, it’s about getting justice for the victim and their family.
There’s a reason so many movies are made about courtroom dramas, and it is because big trials are truly intense, and if justice is achieved, there’s a real feeling of satisfaction. I actually had several jurors over the years tell me that our trials were far more intense than any movie they ever saw. Those trials forever changed them as well.”
Deputy District Attorney (ret.) Kent Williams
Some of Kent’s cases were well-known locally. Due to his experience and reputation, he was often assigned the harder or more significant cases.
Here are the top three cases Kent will always remember.
The People vs. Donald Thompson
In 1997, Stacy Payne was 18 and lived with her boyfriend Seth, in a studio apartment in Upland. The month before Stacy’s murder, both she and Seth had graduated high school.
On a Saturday, Seth left the apartment to go to a yard sale, as Stacy was preparing to go to work at a local restaurant. Seth knew he needed to be back before Stacy left for work at noon.
At 11:45 am, Seth returned to the apartment where he located Stacy lying on the floor, with about 30 stab wounds, and several defensive wounds in her hands. Stacy’s throat had been cut from ear to ear, almost to the point of decapitation. The murder had just occurred, as her hand was still quivering as it protruded upward in the air.
During Seth’s interview with the police, he revealed he and Stacy had befriended a man named Donald Thompson. They allowed Donald to occasionally sleep on their couch after his own nearby apartment had been destroyed due to an arson fire.
The police learned that Donald was an ex-convict who had attempted to murder two women in Los Angeles County. Those crimes also occurred inside an apartment. For some unknown reason, Donald was sentenced to only seven years in prison for this crime.
The police learned that Donald was an ex-convict who had attempted to murder two women in Los Angeles County. Those crimes also occurred inside an apartment. For some unknown reason, Donald was sentenced to only seven years in prison for this crime.
The police continued their investigation and finally located Donald in the San Diego area. They found he had an injury to his knee, which was later determined to have occurred when Donald accidentally stabbed himself while stabbing Stacy.
During the investigation, blood droplets had been found at the crime scene and were later matched to Donald. At his trial, Donald was found guilty of second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 31 years to life when the prior strikes were applied.
Kent wanted and fought for first-degree murder, but it didn’t happen. “The arduous trial just added to the horror of the crime itself. It was all a very ugly combination. Several family members left the experience forever transformed and critical of the California justice system,” said Kent.
People vs. Guillermo Falconi
Guillermo Falconi went to medical school in Ecuador. After traveling to the US, he arrived in Texas. He left that state for California after almost killing a female model while conducting a liposuction surgery on her, without a medical license. For unknown reasons, the model declined to have Guillermo criminally charged, but did agree to a civil settlement.
In California, “Dr.” Falconi performed cosmetic surgeries for significantly reduced prices from the prices charged by licensed doctors. Most of his “patients” were from the Hispanic community and often were not so well educated or affluent. He took advantage of the community, which believed he was there to help.
Barbara Rojas sought Guillermo’s services, in which she wanted large fat deposits on her arms removed. After agreeing on a price of $1000.00, Barbara scheduled her surgical appointment; however, Guillermo showed up unexpectedly at her residence and wanted to do the surgery right then and there. Barbara was hesitant, as she had a 12-year-old daughter, Rosalie, and two infants she was watching. Barbara also didn’t feel her residence was clean enough for surgery. There were also dogs in the home, and it wasn’t sterile.
Guillermo convinced her to go through with the surgery. As Barbara laid back in a lounge chair, Guillermo injected her with copious amounts of a local anesthetic. Guillermo used a marking pen he obtained from Rosalie, to draw the surgical lines he would follow for cutting. He then removed his surgical instruments from his bag, and without sterilizing them, began cutting.
Rosalie watched as her mother endured great pain over the next few days. Her wounds were seeping large amounts of blood. She paged Guillermo several times, to which he didn’t answer until a day or so later when he returned to the residence. Guillermo applied new bandages to the surgical sites, left more Advil with Rosalie, and left the home.
Barbara was in pain as he performed the “surgery.” He continued to give her a local anesthetic, which did not seem to alleviate the pain. When he was finished, Barbara had two large surgical sites on the underside of her arms with grotesque “Frankenstein stitches,” which roughly closed the incisions. Guillermo took the cash for the surgery and left a few Advil pills with Rosalie to give to Barbara if she had pain.
Rosalie watched as her mother endured great pain over the next few days. Her wounds were seeping large amounts of blood. She paged Guillermo several times, to which he didn’t answer until a day or so later when he returned to the residence. Guillermo applied new bandages to the surgical sites, left more Advil with Rosalie, and left the home.
Barbara collapsed on the bathroom floor a few days later, and Rosalie called the paramedics. As Barbara was being wheeled out of the residence on a stretcher, Guillermo called Rosalie. When she told him what happened and that Barbara was being transported to a hospital, Guillermo screamed, “No! Don’t let them take her!”
Sadly, Barbara went into a coma and died a few days later.
Kent prosecuted this case to pursue justice for Barbara’s family. After a lengthy trial, Guillermo was sentenced to 17 years-to-life in prison.
This case was one of the first significant cases covered by Court TV. For a month, there were two large semi-trucks with satellite dishes parked in the courthouse parking lot broadcasting the entire case live. This case was eventually covered in an episode of Dateline.
The People vs. Lanny Woosley
Before midnight on January 18, 2004, Michael Universal was driving his Mustang in the area of the I-210 Freeway and Haven Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga. Seated in the front passenger seat was 18-year-old Blake Harris, and 17-year-old Chris Heyman was in the back passenger seat, behind Harris.
Michael was stopped at a traffic light when the back window suddenly shattered. He looked to his right and saw both Blake and Chris were bleeding from their heads. Michael drove to the nearby McDonald’s parking lot and called 911. Sadly, Chris was pronounced dead at the scene, and Blake was taken off life support the following morning.
These killings shocked the community in this area of Rancho Cucamonga. All of the teens involved in the incident were good students who had strong families and many friends.
Investigators found 17 rounds had been fired at the Mustang’s body and an undetermined amount at the shattered windows. They did not have any motive for the shooting.
A few days after the murders, a police chase occurred in the city of Colton. The suspect, Alexis Jimenez, had carjacked two different victims and tried to push a police car over the side and into a flood-control channel when he was shot by police officers. When he was removed from the vehicle, a small machine gun fell to the ground. Alexis had pointed this gun at the pursuing officers but never shot at them. This little detail would be relevant at trial.
The sheriff’s department, who handled the investigation of the officer-involved shooting, and the murders of Blake Harris and Chris Heyman had a hunch. They compared the shell casings found at the murder scene and the machine gun and found it was the murder weapon that killed Blake and Chris.
Based on the totality of the facts, it was highly likely that the shots were fired from a stationary position by someone familiar with the gun (Lanny), rather than being fired by Alexis from a moving vehicle. Working in Kent’s favor was the fact that the trajectory analysis of the rounds fired into the Mustang were all parallel to each other, thus supporting Kent’s argument that the shots were not fired from a moving vehicle, but rather a stationary position.
Through a complex investigation involving many individuals and additional crimes, Lanny Woosley was identified as the gun owner and a participant in the murders. Charges were filed against Lanny.
When the court case went forward, Woosley denied his involvement in many of the crimes discovered in the investigation. He later tried to minimize his involvement. He even tried to pin the murders of Blake and Chris on Alexis, by saying Alexis fired at the Mustang, from the Honda, as it was moving. Lanny claimed he was the driver, and Alexis fired the gun as they drove past the Mustang.
The defense brought forth a firearms expert who testified the shots that killed Blake and Chris could have been fired from a moving vehicle traveling eleven miles per hour. Kent also sought the assistance of a firearms examiner, but he was unable to prove or disprove what the defense was asserting.
Kent’s examiner did reveal how the particular weapon used in the murders, an AP9, was extremely hard to handle, and it would take someone familiar with the gun to have any effect when fired. Remember how Alexis never fired the gun when being pursued by the police; he only pointed it at them?
Based on the totality of the facts, it was highly likely that the shots were fired from a stationary position by someone familiar with the gun (Lanny), rather than being fired by Alexis from a moving vehicle. Working in Kent’s favor was the fact that the trajectory analysis of the rounds fired into the Mustang were all parallel to each other, thus supporting Kent’s argument that the shots were not fired from a moving vehicle, but rather a stationary position.
In the end, Lanny was found guilty for both the murders of Chris and Blake, but the jury did not find that he was the actual shooter. He was also convicted of a slew of other charges for the crimes uncovered in the investigation.
To this day, Kent remains in contact with Chris’ parents, Jenny and Bert Heyman. “He (Kent) is one of a kind. He included us in every part of the process and decision making, and we are forever in debt to him, and forever grateful,” said Bert Heyman.
More To Come
When Kent left, he compiled a compendium of the most notable cases he handled during his career. We’ll publish many of these cases in the future, as they are truly indicative of the work deputy district attorneys do every day, but sometimes go unnoticed.