Matt Garcia News Blog

Prosecution rests its case in Garcia trial

By Jess Sullivan

May 14, 2010

Daily Republic

VALLEJO — The prosecution rested its case Friday against Henry D. Williams, the accused killer of Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

A drug dealer who took $50 from Gene A. Combs, Williams' friend, and who never gave Combs his methamphetamine retook the witness stand. Ryan Estes talked about how Combs' increasing anger may have fueled gunfire in the Cordelia street outside his Silverado Drive home on the night of Sept. 1, 2008.

Other witnesses have testified Williams mistook Garcia for Estes that night. The pair went to the drug dealer's home shortly before Garcia drove past them on his way to a nearby friend's home. After the shooting, Williams climbed back into their car and they drove off.

Estes emphasized how he was more than just a methamphetamine and cocaine provider to Williams, that their relationship was more of a friendship.

Estes ended his testimony by trying to tell Garcia's family members in the courtroom that he was sorry.

Prosecutor George Williamson also put on a series of witnesses who described Williams fleeing Fairfield the day after the shooting and showing up in a Las Vegas mosque where he told a tale of being a displaced hurricane victim from Houston.

Williams was arrested two weeks after Garcia's death.

Following a gun

The trail of the alleged murder weapon, before and after the killing, was also detailed throughout the day's testimony. The weapon was a 50-year-old, .22 caliber Colt semi-automatic handgun.

Previous testimony about crime scene ballistics show the old gun was fired at least eight times with bullets ricocheting off the street and sidewalk and striking distant homes and cars. Garcia, standing at least 40 yards from the gun, was struck once in the back of the head.

A few weeks before the shooting, a friend of Combs sold him the gun for $160, according to the friend's testimony. The friend, a convicted felon, got the gun from another friend, also a convicted felon, who found the gun in a pile of clothes he bought at a rental storage locker property auction.

Williams had the gun in a black plastic box while he was at a Labor Day barbecue party in Berkeley on the afternoon before the shooting, according to testimony of the party's host, also a felon.

The host also described for police two weeks after the shooting that Williams had shown back up at the Berkeley home the day after the shooting telling the host "I (expletive) around and I shot the councilman" and that "a dope fiend got (him) in a wreck."

One of Williams' neighbors testified about Williams arriving at his East Tabor Avenue apartment a short time after the shooting, beer in hand and very drunk, and bragging about how "he had to unload a clip on someone."

A neighbor of Williams' mother testified Williams had showed up at his home on the night of the shooting and given him a black plastic box with a gun inside.

The neighbor, also a felon, said he got a call from Williams the next day telling him to get rid of the gun. The neighbor testified he took the alleged murder weapon to the Benicia Bridge and threw the gun into the Suisun Bay before disposing of the plastic box in a gas station trash can.

Police dive teams never found the gun.

The defense case will get under way when the trial resumes Thursday. Judge Rob Bowers said the jury should hear closing arguments in the trial and begin deliberations by the next day.

Combs' jury trial on a murder charge is scheduled to begin the following week on May 26.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

Key witness takes the stand

By Jess Sullivan 

May 13, 2010

Daily Republic

FAIRFIELD — The prosecution's star witnesses testified Thursday in the trial for the ex-con who allegedly shot and killed Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

The woman, Nicole Stewart, recounted how her boyfriend, Henry D. Williams, got out of their parked car and fired several shots at the driver of a Cadillac that had passed by their car moments earlier.

Williams' defense attorney, John Mendenhall, needed to discredit Stewart's believability to support his defense strategy claiming the real shooter was the other man in the car on the night of Sept. 1, 2008, Gene A. Combs.

Mendenhall was mindful of Stewart's version of events from testimony at a 2009 probable cause hearing. However, he did not flesh out any solid motive for Stewart to lie as he tried picking apart the lies she initially told Fairfield police when she was arrested 11 days after the shooting.

Stewart repeatedly said she could not remember what she told police in the recorded interview, prompting Mendenhall to repeatedly give her a transcript to help her remember. Sometimes, but usually not, Stewart's memory remained flawed.

Judge Rob Bowers grew frustrated with Mendenhall's piecemeal approach and had Stewart read the interview transcript all at once, while in the jury box and while jurors sat in silence for about 15 minutes.

Prosecutor George Williamson countered by going over the four later consistent interviews Stewart had with police after naming Williams as the shooter, who allegedly had acted because he mistook Garcia as a drug dealer who had stiffed Combs in a drug buy earlier in the day.

"I didn't want anyone to get into trouble," Stewart said of her initial lies.

Stewart described Williams being out of the car for 35 seconds and the sounds of several pops from behind the car before Williams got back in the car and told her to drive off.

Stewart sat behind the wheel, eating fried chicken, during the shooting. She did not talk about the shooting afterward or ask Williams about fleeing to Las Vegas the following day.

Mendenhall also focused on Stewart's rocky relationship with Williams. She was pregnant with his child at the time of the shooting, and they were sharing an East Tabor apartment.

Details of Stewart getting more than $11,000 as part of a witness protection program in the months after the shooting were explored by Mendenhall, but Williamson repeatedly had Stewart say the money had not influenced her version of events.

District Attorney David Paulson was criticized repeatedly over the decision not to charge Stewart with any crimes while charging Williams and Combs with murder.

The drug dealer who lived near the Silverado Drive shooting scene also took the witness stand. Ryan Estes said he's repeatedly sold Combs -- who he knew as Methhead Gino -- methamphetamine. He'd also sold methamphetamine and cocaine to Williams.

Estes grudgingly testified he'd taken $50 from Combs before using the money to buy beer before going to Oakland to party.

Combs called Estes about 15 times after he figured out he'd been fleeced. He ignored all the calls, Estes said, but listened to three messages after learning about the shooting.

"Those bullets were meant for you," the message stated. Estes was unsure whether Williams or Combs was the speaker but said the voice was "evil."

Estes is expected to retake the witness stand when the trial resumes this morning.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

Testimony gets under way

By Jess Sullivan

DAILY REPUBLIC

VALLEJO — Deputy District Attorney George Williamson began laying his case out for jurors in the trial of the ex-con accused of gunning down Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

Opening statements

Before the first witness took the stand, both lawyers told jurors very different versions of what they believe happened Sept. 1, 2008.

John Mendenhall, defense attorney for accused killer, Henry D. Williams, was quick to spell out his defense strategy.

"Gene Combs shot Matt Garcia," were the first words out of Mendenhall's mouth Wednesday morning.

Mendenhall went on to tell jurors it was Combs who had a beef with a drug dealer who Combs had visited on Silverado Drive in Cordelia shortly before Garcia was shot and killed after driving up to a nearby house.

"Henry Williams didn't have any problems with Ryan Estes (the alleged dealer)," Mendenhall said before telling jurors Williams and Estes had been cordially drinking beer together a few hours before the shooting.

After the shooting, Combs boasted to a friend of having "already popped me one mother- (expletive)," according to Mendenhall. Combs had given Estes $50 for methamphetamine earlier in the day, according to Mendenhall.

Mendenhall also emphasized the sole eyewitness description police got of the shooter came from Jennifer Tarbell, the woman whose home Garcia was visiting that night. She got a two second look at the shooter and described him as an Hispanic or light-skinned black male. Williams is dark-skinned. Combs has a much lighter complexion.

Combs' trial on a murder charge is set to begin later this month.

Williamson told jurors it was Williams who was toting the gun before and after the shooting and who told a neighbor after Garcia's killing that "(He) emptied a clip on a guy tonight."

Williamson emphasized the expected testimony of Williams' girlfriend, Nicole Stewart, who testified at the defendants' probable cause hearing that Williams was the shooter.

"It was a senseless killing over a bad dope deal," Williamson told jurors, describing Garcia as having been "in the wrong place, at the wrong time and the wrong guy."

Police believe Garcia's death was a case of mistaken identity.

The prosecution case begins

Williamson's first witness was Mike Beatty, the first Fairfield police officer to arrive at the shooting scene. Williamson said he expects to call 40 to 45 witnesses during the trial, which is expected to take two weeks.

Tarbell followed Beatty and described Garcia's phone calls and texting before agreeing to meet with her on his way home from a party.

She described Garcia's big smile, his hug and their laughter before she heard what she thought was firecrackers coming from up the street.

Tarbell saw the muzzle flash from a gun and ran toward her house.

"I called out for Matt. I saw him on the ground and ran over. I rolled him over and hoped and prayed it wasn't true," Tarbell testified.

Tarbell pointed to Williams at the defense table, saying he had the height and build of the man she had seen standing outside a car parked down the street that night.

Mendenhall tried countering Tarbell's testimony by repeatedly trying to get her to repeat the description she gave police the night of the shooting and the description she gave a police sketch artist a few days later.

Most of Williamson's case on the first day of testimony focused on the crime scene investigation and the eight shell casings found in the street in the aftermath of the shooting.

Mendenhall had little to dispute with the sparse crime scene evidence.

Williamson is scheduled to continue his case against Williams this morning.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

 

Lawyers pick jurors in Garcia murder case

By Jess Sullivan
May 6th, 2010
Daily Republic

VALLEJO — A jury and two alternate jurors were selected Thursday in the jury trial of the man accused of shooting and killing Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

The accused killer, Henry D. Williams, has pleaded not guilty to murder and related felony charges for the September 2008 killing.

Even after jurors were sworn in and ordered back to court May 12 for opening statements and testimony, Williams' attorney, John Mendenhall, continued to argue pretrial media reporting made it impossible for his client to get a fair trial.

During the two-day selection process, many jurors said they knew Garcia, his family and had followed the shooting, arrest, and prosecution in the media.

Some jurors had gone to school with Garcia, 22 at the time of his death, and at least one had raised money for the Matt Garcia Youth Center.

Altogether more than 200 potential jurors had been in the potential jury pool. More than 120 were in the Vallejo courtroom for much of the day, most hoping they would not be summoned up to the jury box for questioning by the attorneys and possibly being seated as a juror in the trial expected to last two to three weeks.

Only 40 potential jurors were questioned by the attorneys before a jury was sworn in. The two alternates, both African-American women including a Solano County probation officer, were chosen a short time later.

The selection process was not without legal brawling. As soon as prosecutor George Williamson excused his first potential juror from the panel, Mendenhall objected, raising concerns the excusing of the Hispanic woman was possibly motivated by racism.

Judge Rob Bowers quickly dismissed the assertion and a few minutes later, when Williamson excused his next potential juror, an African-American man, Mendenhall renewed his concerns. Bowers once again ruled against Mendenhall after Williamson explained his reasons for dismissing the man from the potential jury.

While Williams is not scheduled to return to court until next week, his alleged accomplice in the shooting, Gene A. Combs, is scheduled to be in court Friday for the start of jury selection in his murder trial for Garcia's death. Once a jury is picked for Combs' trial, they will be excused from court and won't return until after the Williams' jurors begin deliberations in a few weeks.

Williams, 33, and Combs, 46, allegedly drove to Cordelia one night in September 2008 looking for a methamphetamine dealer who Combs thought had stiffed him in a drug buy. While parked in a car a short distance from the dealer's home, Garcia drove past the pair. WIlliams is believed to have mistaken Garcia for the dealer and from a distance of about 50 yards in the darkness, he allegedly fired several shots toward Garcia. One shot struck Garcia in the back of his head, according to testimony at the pair's probable cause hearing.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

Jury selection begins in Garcia murder trial

By Jess Sullivan
May 5th, 2010

Daily Republic

VALLEJO — Jury selection got under way Wednesday for the trial of the ex-convict accused of shooting and killing Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

The effort to find 12 impartial citizens began with scores of potential jurors filling out lengthy questionnaires inquiring about their backgrounds and any familiarity they may have with the crime and the accused, Henry D. Williams.

The jury pool was cleaved by more than 40 percent by mid-morning with dozens of potential jurors explaining it would be a severe hardship for them to sit in a jury trial expected to take two to three weeks.

Potential jurors who did not claim a hardship left the courthouse by 10:30 a.m. after being ordered to return Thursday morning when Judge Rob Bowers, prosecutor George Williamson and defense attorney John Mendenhall will question potential jurors individually.

As Bowers and the lawyers met with potential jurors claiming hardship, Garcia's family and loved ones watched silently, filling most of the gallery chairs in the small courtroom.

Attorneys expect a jury will be impaneled Thursday and will return to the courthouse May 12 for opening statements and the start of the prosecution's case against Williams.

On Friday, another pool of potential jurors will convene at the courthouse to begin the selection process for the trial of Williams' alleged accomplice, Gene A. Combs. The jurors chosen for Combs' trial will begin hearing testimony shortly after Williams' trial draws to a close.

Both Williams, 33, and Combs, 46, are facing murder charges and related felony charges for Garcia's killing in September 2008.

On the night of Sept. 1, Williams and Combs were in Cordelia trying to locate a friend who they believed had pocketed $50 Combs had given him for methamphetamine, according to testimony at the pair's probable cause hearing.

Garcia, 22, drove past the car the pair were in and Williams mistakenly thought Garcia was the friend. When Garcia got out of his car, about 50 yards down the street, Williams allegedly fired several shots at him. One shot struck Garcia in the back of the head.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

Trial dates set for Garcia's accused killers

By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | May 18, 2009 16:43

VALLEJO - Trials could be finished by the end of 2009 for the two men charged with murder in the shooting death of Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia last September.

A judge on Monday set Nov. 12 as the trial start date for Henry D. Williams, whom investigators believe fired the fatal shot. Williams and his attorney were in Judge Robert Bowers' courtroom for a closed-door meeting with prosecutors and then a public hearing to set the trial date.

Later in the day, alleged accomplice Gene A. Combs stood in the same spot to hear his trial will follow Williams' date in court, possibly starting in early December. The two will be tried separately.

Several weeks are being set aside for each trial. The 'goal is to have this done by the end of this calendar year,' Bowers said.

Bowers said there will be a trial readiness conference for the defense and prosecution on Sept. 14.

Garcia's parents and other family members were in the audience for the hearings. Afterward, they said they had hoped for a trial as early as September but were comfortable with the longer process.

'We are determined to trust our judicial system,' said Raymond Courtemanche, Garcia's stepfather.

According to investigators, Combs and Williams were in Cordelia Villages on the night of Sept. 1, 2008, trying to locate a friend whom they believed had pocketed money Combs had given him for drugs.

According to testimony at the probable cause hearing, Garcia drove past the car the pair were in and Williams mistakenly thought Garcia was their friend. When Garcia got out of his car about 50 yards down the street, Williams fired several shots at him. One bullet struck Garcia in the back of the head.

Garcia, 22, was declared brain dead the next day at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. He remained on life support until his organs could be harvested for transplants.

Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.

Testimony tells tragic tale in Garcia case

By Jess Sullivan

Daily Republic
VALLEJO - The fatal Labor Day shooting of Matt Garcia may have been the result of mistaken identity over a $50 drug dispute that had nothing to do with the late Fairfield City Councilman.

Garcia's fate of being in the wrong place at the wrong time was detailed during a two-day probable cause hearing that wrapped up Friday for two men facing murder charges for Garcia shooting death.

Henry D. Williams, 32, the alleged shooter, and Eugene A. Combs, 45, were ordered to stand trial for murder. Judge Robert Bowers ordered them to be arraigned Feb. 18. They are jailed without bail.

On the morning of the shooting Combs had gone to the Silverado Drive home in Cordelia of Ryan Estes. The home is across the street from where Garcia was shot that night.

Combs later told police he gave Estes 'his last' $50 for methamphetamine and Estes told him he'd meet him a short time later at a nearby gas station. Instead, Estes skipped the rendezvous and ignored dozens of calls from an increasingly agitated Combs who threatened to burn Estes' car and home.

'Combs is the catalyst for this whole tragedy,' prosecutor George Williamson said. 'He set into motion an armed Mr. Williams to do his business.'

Combs told police he and Williams had both got methamphetamine from Estes in the past. Estes said in an interview Thursday he deeply regrets doing something that set off the deadly chain of events.

'I said I could, knowing I couldn't,' Estes said about getting the methamphetamine.

Estes, 28, rejects being labeled a drug dealer in court. He knew Combs, Williams and Williams' girlfriend, Nicole Stewart, for about six months and says they used to party together.

'I knew people who provided me dope, drug dealers I knew,' Estes said. He said he regrets taking the money and then spending it on beer and other items for a Labor Day party he attended. 'At the time I was a guy who partied and that was it. These guys were my friends. . . . Now my life is totally away from partying.'

Stewart, 33, was the first witness to testify on the second day of the hearing. With a soft German accent she described hastily leaving a holiday barbecue with Williams, who has a criminal record in California and Nevada. At the barbecue Williams had been drinking beer and showing off the old gun, according to the testimony of Arnil Porter, the barbecue's host.

Williams and Stewart went to Suisun City where they met up with an angry Combs about two hours before the shooting.

After Combs was arrested, he told police Williams claimed he had been shorted by Estes in the past, according to police testimony at the hearing. The two men fueled each other's growing anger as they headed to Silverado Drive with Stewart driving.

Estes was not home so the trio started to leave when Garcia drove past them in his Cadillac Escalade. Williams and Combs argued briefly over whether Estes was in the Escalade and Williams ordered his girlfriend to pull over.

Garcia, 22, had gone to a Silverado Drive home of a friend. The trio were parked about 50 yards up the street. After giving a friend a hug in the driveway of her home, Garcia was shot once in the back of the head.

Stewart repeatedly said she did not see or know about the gun until Williams jumped from the car and fired several shots while she sat in the car eating chicken.

Stewart could not recall Combs calling Estes moments after the shooting and saying 'those bullets were meant for you.'

Estes recalls the threat differently with a message saying '(expletive), that bullet was meant for you.'

After the trio left the shooting scene, Williams went to his mother's Fairfield home and then to a neighbor's home, according to testimony. He gave a gun to Francisco 'Paco' Perez and the next day he told Perez to dispose of the old gun. Perez, testifying under a grant of immunity from prosecutors, said he threw the semi-automatic gun into Suisun Bay at the Benicia Bridge.

Prosecutors have also opted not to charge Stewart for her role in the shooting. They have put her into a witness protection program receiving more than $6,000 for rent and food in the last six months, she testified.

Another prosecution witness testified he sold an old gun to Combs, an auto mechanic, a few weeks before the shooting.

Williams then went with Stewart to their East Tabor Avenue apartment where a short time later he was drinking beer and telling a neighbor he had just 'unloaded a clip on a guy talking bad about his mechanic in Cordelia.'

Combs' attorney unsuccessfully argued Combs should not face a murder charge because he did not know Williams was going to kill somebody and did not know Williams had a gun until a few moments before the shooting.

Williams' attorney unsuccessfully argued that the distance between Williams and Garcia combined with the fact that only one of the several gun shots fired struck Garcia added up to involuntary manslaughter.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or Jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

Details recounted at hearing in Garcia killing

By Jess Sullivan | Daily Republic | February 03, 2009 19:20

VALLEJO - New details emerged Tuesday about the slaying of Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia.

The two men facing murder charges for Garcia's shooting death had been targeting a drug dealer who they believed had taken money from one of them without providing him methamphetamine, according to testimony during the first day of a probable cause hearing for Henry D. Williams and Eugene A. Combs.

The day culminated with the testimony of Nicole Stewart, Williams ex-girlfriend, who drove the pair to the Silverado Drive home of the drug dealer, Ryan J. Estes, on the night of Sept. 1, 2008.

Stewart and Williams had been at Estes home in Cordelia earlier in the day and later met up with Combs at a Suisun City fast food restaurant before returning to the home.

The trio knew each other from their jobs at a medical supply company where they worked and Estes had previously sold them methamphetamine. Stewart was nine months pregnant with Williams' child at the time of the shooting and they were living in an apartment with her two teenage children.

As they drove to Estes' home Williams acted 'very annoyed' and Combs seemed really upset, Stewart testified. She doesn't face any charges related to the incident.

After learning Estes was no longer home, they started to drive away when a car passed by, sparking a brief exchange between Williams and Combs about whether Estes was in the other car.

After Combs saw the other car turn around and appear to flash its headlights, Williams ordered Stewart to pull over and stop. They were about 50 yards from the other car when Williams got out and walked to the back of their car.

Stewart testified she then heard three pops before Williams got back in the car, his shirt wrapped in his hands cradling a gun she had not seen up until that moment.

Judge Robert Bowers interrupted Stewart's testimony late in the afternoon and ordered the hearing to resume Friday morning.

Earlier in the day one of the first Fairfield police officers, Kiera Wilcox, who responded to the shooting scene recounted what she was told by Garcia's friend , Jennifer Tarbell, who Garcia had gone to visit at her Silverado Drive home.

Tarbell and Garcia were talking on their cell phones as he arrived at her home. She walked out from the backyard and hugged him after he got out of his car. They were laughing about their inside joke about the difference in their heights as they were standing in her driveway.

Tarbell heard four or five pops, looked over at a man standing next to a car down the street and saw a flash of light. The only description of the man she could give Wilcox was that he was black or Hispanic. No height, weight or clothing description.

Tarbell started running toward the front door of her home when she heard the car drive off.

A man across the street from Tarbell's home heard the same pops and he ran out into the street expecting to see kids with firecrackers. Ben Griffin testified he saw a man getting into a car down the street and a man on the ground. Then he heard Tarbell screaming and yelling. As Griffin got closer to the man on the sidewalk he recognized Garcia as a good friend of his family.

The hearing resumes Friday morning in Department 15 in Vallejo.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or Jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.

Matt Garcia Youth Center officially open

By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | November 05, 2008 21:23

FAIRFIELD - Within moments of the doors opening, the thudding sound of bouncing basketballs filled the new Matt Garcia Youth Center.

A crowd of hundreds spent Wednesday afternoon under cloudy skies for the grand opening of the center, which will have its first normal day of operation on Friday.

'It's a bittersweet day for us,' said Teresa Courtemanche, mother of Garcia, a Fairfield City Councilman who was slain in September. 'Matt's not here in body but I know he's here in spirit.'

The afternoon program consisted of several speakers and was followed by an open house at the center, program sign-ups, boxing demonstrations and the first chance for kids to shoot hoops on the basketball court.

The center is located at 250 Travis Blvd., next to Grocery Outlet, near the intersection with North Texas Street. Named the Matt Garcia Youth Center, it is operated by the non-profit Police Activities League.

The building itself is dominated by the large basketball court, where children played with members of the Solano Community College basketball team on Wednesday. The center also has four homework rooms with computers, an arts and crafts room, and an entry area with a large boxing ring.

Membership is available to students in grades 7-12. Membership for the year costs $10 per student, and a valid school identification card is required. It will be open from 2:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and 2:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Several speakers discussed the three year-plus process that led to the facility's construction.

A teen center had been proposed early in the decade by former Councilman John English but was never built. After the 2005 election, Councilmen John Mraz and Frank Kardos made the issue a top priority, one shared by Garcia and Councilman Chuck Timm after their 2007 election.

However, only Mraz and Timm were around for the grand opening -- Garcia and Kardos both died in September.

'Frank was my partner in trying to get this open and I really wish he were here today,' Mraz said.

The final speaker was Douglas Spletter, president of the Police Activities League board of directors. He introduced each colleague on the board, a varied group that includes police officers, city commissioners and the family of late developer and philanthropist Billy Yarbrough, for whom the building was originally named.

'This board created a foundation that we can build on,' Spletter said, addressing the crowd. 'The rest is up to you.'

Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.

Accused gunman in Garcia shooting pleads not guilty

By Jess Sullivan | Daily Republic | September 24, 2008 17:41

FAIRFIELD - The man accused of fatally shooting Councilman Matt Garcia pleaded not guilty to a murder charge during a brief court appearance Wednesday.

Henry Don Williams, 32, entered his plea after Solano County Chief Deputy Public Defender Susan Kauffman was appointed as his attorney. Kauffman received more than 800 pages of investigative reports from prosecutors for the Sept. 1 shooting of Garcia, 22.

Williams also pleaded not guilty to firearms charges, which along with the murder charge could result in a prison sentence of 51 years to life.

Williams, who is in jail without bail, was ordered to return to court in Vallejo on Monday in front of Judge Robert Bowers. Williams' alleged accomplice, Gene Allen Combs, 45, who pleaded not guilty to a murder charge earlier this week, is also scheduled to appear in front of Bowers on Monday.

After Williams' brief court appearance, Kauffman talked briefly about the extensive publicity surrounding the case. Any change of venue request would likely be raised shortly before or during jury selection for the trial.

Garcia's family members attended the arraignment, and some spoke briefly to reporters afterward.

'Our prayer is the perpetrators take responsibility for their actions,' said Garcia's stepfather, Raymond Courtemanche.

Williams was arrested in Las Vegas over the weekend, waived an extradition hearing and arrived in Fairfield on Tuesday night.

Williams and Combs allegedly accompanied Nicole Stewart to a Silverado Drive home in Cordelia Villages on the night of Sept. 1. Garcia had gone to Silverado Drive to visit a friend and was shot once in the back of the head after getting out of his car.

Stewart, 33, is now in protective custody as a critical eyewitness to the shooting. Prosecutors have opted not to charge her with any crimes for her involvement in Garcia's death.

Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net.