ST. LOUIS (AP) - A St. Louis man has been acquitted in a 2017 deadly shooting that occurred in front of a large crowd.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that jurors returned not guilty verdicts Thursday for 30-year-old Terrance Williams on six counts, including first-degree murder in the death of Gentrail Wafford.
Williams claimed self-defense in the shooting that occurred in view of more than 20 witnesses on a block known for heavy drug activity. Wafford fired his pistol more than a dozen times during the shootout.
Prosecutors argued that Williams was the initial aggressor and shot Wafford at least 10 times.
The jury also acquitted Williams of witness tampering in connection with the 2018 killing of Roderick Silinzy, a witness in Wafford’s death. Prosecutors claimed that in jailhouse phone calls days after Silinzy’s death, Williams told co-defendant Larry Strickland to “take action” against or dissuade other witnesses from testifying.
Strickland, who is 32, pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to 18 months of jail time already served.
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