The afternoon started, his supporters say, with a noble gesture. It ended with 30-year-old Charlie Williams dead after a scuffle with Barrow County Sheriff’s deputies.
The circumstances that led to Williams' death raises many questions for his parents, who have hired a lawyer to try to get answers. No lawsuit has been filed in the death, but the attorney is asking: Did deputies go too far in attempting to subdue Williams, who they say was "belligerent" and "combative"? Was his behavior caused by a panic attack?
And what role did his size play? Williams, who shared dimensions with your typical NFL offensive lineman, did not like to be in confined spaces, his mother said, and few spaces are more confining than the back of a police cruiser, handcuffed.
EARLIER: Man in custody dies after police use taser
Results of Williams’ autopsy, performed last week by the state medical examiner, won’t be available until the end of the month. But the entire altercation between Williams and law enforcement was caught on video.
The district attorney overseeing the case will allow Williams’ parents and attorney to view some — but not all — of that footage Thursday. That’s not uncommon for an open investigation. Rod Dixon, the attorney for Williams’ parents, said they have not been told what will be withheld from them, and why.
“We just don’t know,” Dixon said. “We’ll just have to watch and go from there.”
Here’s what is known: Williams was arrested on Jan. 27 and charged with battery and cruelty to children following a physical confrontation with a woman on Greentree in Auburn, according to the GBI, which is investigating the response by Barrow deputies, as it does whenever a suspect dies at the hands of police.
Dixon said Williams was visiting a friend’s house when he witnessed a female neighbor allegedly being abusive to her children. Williams interceded and at one point shoved the woman, according to Dixon, which prompted the woman’s children to call 911.
The attorney said a GBI agent told him Williams was “cordial” as he was marched 50 feet from the point where he was arrested to the patrol car that would take him to the Barrow County Detention Center.
Williams, who was 6”4 tall and weighed roughly 300 pounds, didn’t became antagonistic until the Auburn police officer driving him neared the jail. He began kicking the interior of the patrol car and managed to get his handcuffs from behind his back to his front.
“Barrow County Sheriff’s Office personnel attempted to talk Williams out of the vehicle, but he continued to be belligerent,” the GBI stated in a press release.
“Williams fought with several Barrow County deputies while they tried to remove him from the vehicle,” according to the GBI. “A taser was deployed by one of the deputies to gain control of Williams. He continued to be combative and fought with deputies after the taser was used.”
But the taser proved ineffective, according to Dixon, because it was applied too close to Williams’ body. Deputies finally wrestled him to the ground, on his back, where they unsuccessfully attempted to shackle his legs because the cuffs were not big enough, the attorney said. Williams continued to resist the deputies, the GBI said.
Two stun guns, which generally contain a higher voltage than a taser, were then deployed, Dixon said, and the suspect was rolled over on his stomach. At that point deputies noticed he was not breathing. Attempts to resuscitate him failed and he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Dixon has stopped short of alleging police used excessive force until he has more facts. “The question we have is was that force used in a reasonable, necessary and appropriate way?”
Williams’ mother, Mary Sojka, has her doubts. “From the very get-go things have been a little fishy to me,” she said. “Something’s just not right.”
She wasn’t allowed to see her son’s body at the hospital because, she said, “they were afraid I’d mess with evidence.”
“Being such a huge guy I think the anxiety just grew on him (while in the back of the patrol car),” Sojka said. “And when they arrested him he went willingly.”
Many looked to her son as a protector, Sojka said.
“I’ve heard from so many girls he went to school with who said he defended them when they were being bullied,” she said. “He was bigger than life.”
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