Local News in Brief : Defendant Guilty in Plot to Kill Officer
A man who helped plan the 1985 revenge slaying of a Los Angeles police detective was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, but was acquitted of the actual murder charge by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury.
Voltaire Williams, 25, faces up to 25 years to life in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled March 27.
He was convicted of helping plan the Halloween, 1985, revenge-murder of Detective Thomas C. Williams, who was killed in a volley of gunfire as he picked up his 6-year-old son from a Canoga Park day-care center. The child escaped injury.
The jury is continuing to deliberate the fate of co-defendants Duane Moody, 31, and Reecy Clem Cooper, 34, who face both conspiracy and murder counts.
Two other defendants, Daniel Jenkins, 33, and Ruben Antonio Moss, 26, have been convicted in the ambush killing. Jenkins was sentenced to die in the gas chamber and Moss received life in prison.
Voltaire Williams said he initially agreed to assist Jenkins in planning the officer’s killing but then backed out of the conspiracy. Voltaire Williams is not related to the slain officer.
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