HOUSTON, Texas – A gang member who was convicted of shooting one man, and remains charged with another murder, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Jurors convicted Javan Oxavia Williams, 30, of murder for the death of a man he shot from behind as he sat in a car. While jurors were deciding his punishment, they were told about another pending case, in which Williams is charged with capital murder, for shooting a man in the man’s own living room and stealing his possessions.
“Jurors listened to the brutal details of this cold-blooded crime spree that left two people dead,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “He is a dangerous gang member, and an absolute killer, who should spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Williams is a member of the Treetop Piru gang and has a large red “P” tattooed over his throat. On the sides of his forehead are the words “No Face” and “No Case.”
In the first murder, in January 2017, Williams was in the back seat of a car after getting a ride home with two friends. He apologized to passenger Charlie Bennett Jr., about an argument they got into a day earlier, but then he shot Bennett in the neck from behind.
Williams then shot the driver in the face and fled. The driver, Aukeyanna Simmons, played dead until Williams ran off, and then she drove to the hospital, where Bennett died.
While looking into Bennett’s death, investigators charged Williams with capital murder in a second killing, which happened a month later, in February 2017. In that incident, Williams is accused of fatally shooting another friend, Tonius Wayne Frank, 26, at Frank’s apartment at 300 North Vista Drive.
Williams allegedly killed Frank, who was shot five times and found dead on his living room floor. The killer then allegedly ransacked the home and took several electronic devices. Williams is also accused of killing Frank’s two dogs, shooting them while they were still in their kennels.
Members of both victims’ families were present for the trial, which was held in District Court Judge Nikita Harmon’s court.
“Although a life sentence cannot bring back Mr. Bennett or Mr. Frank, the Bennett and Frank families know that justice is done,” said Assistant District Attorney Thomas Waddle, who prosecuted the case with ADA Sheila Hansel.
The cases were investigated by the Houston Police Department, Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office.
