MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 16-year-old boy accused of raping and beating to death a mentally disabled woman in Perrine will be tried as an adult in the case.
Jeremiah Williams and his attorney did not show up at a Wednesday court hearing, where Miami-Dade County Judge Mavel Ruiz told Williams' mother that her son had been indicted and arraigned earlier this week in adult court.
Ruiz signed an order transferring Williams from the juvenile system to the adult system. He will now be held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center to await trial.
Hearing the news, his mother, Tammy Williams, broke down in court.
"My heart goes out to you," Ruiz told her. "You've just got to have faith. Don't give up."
Leaving court, Tammy Williams told Local 10 News crime specialist John Turchin that, "God is good."
According to police, Jeremiah Williams was part of a group of teens who raped and brutally beat Francis Harris, 53, to death earlier this month.
Detectives said Williams told them that he and other young people spotted Harris walking toward the back yard of a vacant home on the night of July 7 off Southwest 102nd Avenue in Perrine.
Relatives said Harris was mentally disabled and sometimes went to the home to use the bathroom.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Local 10 News, the boys followed her, and she ran and tripped. The teens then allegedly kicked and dragged her and raped her multiple times before leaving her to die.
Williams' stepmother, Latasha Bean, told Turchin that her son is innocent and has no prior record.
"It's all lies. My son is innocent, innocent, innocent," Bean said. "He didn't do it. It isn't in the nature of him to do it. He has respect. He is very respectful. He had never been in the back of a police car until that night."
Relatives and neighbors of the victim said they believe that the brutal crime was part of a gang initiation.
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