A Palm Beach County jury rejected a first-degree murder charge Friday in the case of a homeless man accused of stabbing a 14-year-old boy to death, convicting him of second-degree murder instead.
Semmie Lee Williams Jr., 43, a drifter who thought he was being stalked by gangs, crossed paths with Ryan Rogers, a freshman at William T. Dwyer, while Rogers was taking an after-school bike ride on the night of Nov. 15, 2021. The teenager’s body was found near his bike in a wooded area along the Interstate 95 overpass in Palm Beach Gardens the next morning. He had been stabbed 10 times, mostly in the head and neck.
Why Williams killed Rogers that day— an act described by prosecutors as “random violence”— is a question that may never have an answer.
But jurors agreed that the evidence did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did so with premeditation, convicting him of second-degree murder with a weapon. They reached their verdict after deliberating for over five hours, beginning late Thursday afternoon and ending shortly before 2 p.m. Friday.
Both the defense and prosecution argued the issue of premeditation during their closing arguments on Thursday, a week after the trial began.
The trial had taken a turn before it even began earlier this month when Williams suddenly revoked his insanity plea, changing it to not guilty.
Over the last seven days, without ever mentioning Williams’ diagnosis of schizophrenia, public defenders Stephanie Gagerie and Courtney Wilson said that he was a victim of “gang stalking” by various groups including the Freemasons and the Illuminati. They argued that he had randomly stumbled upon Rogers’ body, then left, too afraid of law enforcement to call the police.
Jurors did not accept that version of events, siding instead with the prosecution, who showed them evidence of Williams’ DNA, found under Rogers’ fingernails and on a pair of headphones tangled in his bike, surveillance footage of him walking in the area where Rogers was found, and testimony of a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy who said Williams confessed to the crime while getting fingerprinted at jail, saying he killed Rogers because “they gave the Black people syphilis.”
But the jury did side with the defense’s argument that there wasn’t clear enough evidence to show whoever killed Rogers did so with premeditation, despite prosecutors’ arguments pointing to the number of stab wounds and surveillance footage they said showed Williams disposing of evidence.
Asked if he was satisfied with the verdict while leaving the courtroom Friday, Rogers’ father, Brian, told reporters he was not. He declined to comment further, as did other family members.
Assistant State Attorneys Jo Wilensky and Richard Clausi told reporters that they were happy with the outcome.
“We’re really pleased with the jury’s verdict,” Wilensky said, adding that prosecutors may have more to say after Williams’ sentencing.
The second-degree murder charge still carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, but Wilensky and Clausi said they were still seeking the maximum sentence.
“Today’s guilty verdict holds the defendant accountable for Ryan’s murder,” State Attorney Alexcia Cox said in a statement. “While no verdict can ever ease the pain of losing a child, I hope this outcome brings some measure of justice to Ryan’s family and to a community that has carried this tragedy for too long.”
Williams’ public defenders could not immediately be reached for comment.
