By Danae Snell
SACRAMENTO – Matthew Williams accused his roommate of “trying to steal his energy with his mind,” and then allegedly struck that roommate over the head with an aluminum cane, according to testimony heard in Sacramento County Superior Court Tuesday.
Williams—who will undergo a competency examination—is charged with PC section 245(a)(1), “unlawful assault with a deadly weapon, a cane” and PC section 245(a)(4), “assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.”
Judge Shelleyanne Chang found probable cause that “the offense charged within the complaint has been committed and there is sufficient cause to believe the defendant is guilty thereof…if the defendant is returned as competent.”
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gong summoned Deputy Ignacio Carrero and Deputy Jason Hikes to explain the sequence of events that occurred after responding to a call in Carmichael.
On July 30, defendant Williams informed Deputy Carrero that he was “on Snapchat trying to focus his energy when the victim woke up and turned on his sync and started to drain his energy. He (the defendant) became upset that the victim was trying to steal his energy with his mind.”
So, the defendant then “went out to confront the victim about this, but he (the victim) did not stop draining Matthew’s energy so Matthew said that he knew that he had to strike the victim to get 
him to stop,” according to Deputy Carrero.
The defendant informed the deputy that he went into the bathroom to confront the victim when the victim told him to get out. The victim then went into his own bedroom where the defendant followed him. The defendant claimed it was in the bedroom that he “punched the victim twice in the face,” according to the deputy’s account, adding the victim “used the cane to defend himself and push the defendant away,” but the defendant took the cane away from him.
Another roommate living in the apartment stood witness to parts of the acts, which allowed the officers to hear the story from a member uninvolved in the encounter.
This witness informed Deputy Carrero “that he was asleep in his room when he heard a loud argument coming from” the victim’s room, which is on the other side of the house. He then “got up to see what the commotion was and when he came into the living room, he could see the defendant standing in the doorway” of the victim’s bedroom.
The witness saw defendant Williams with a cane in his hand, but at this point he did not appear to be using it in a threatening manner, he informed the officers.
After the defendant “grabbed the cane he walked away into the living room because he (the victim) said he was going to shoot him with a crossbow, so he backed away from the room.” Then the victim came out of the room holding an axe handle, according to the roommate that stood witness.
The witness then informed the officers that at this moment “the two of them began swinging the weapons at each other” and the defendant struck the victim once in the head with the cane.
After striking the victim, the defendant dropped the cane and left the apartment. At this moment, the witness called 911 and the police later arrived on the scene.
When police arrived, they claimed they were unable to make contact with the defendant because he had already left the scene. However, the defendant’s mother called the police informing them of his location and “requested the Sheriff Department to do a welfare check on him.”
Deputy Carrero and two other deputies responded to the location to find the defendant “in a porta potty.” When they asked defendant Williams to come out, he came out willingly and cooperated with them.
“Based on how he was talking and explaining things” led Deputy Carrero to believe the defendant was suffering from a mental illness insofar as a majority of “his statements were kind of rambling and incoherent and did not make a lot of sense.”
Deputy Carrero expressed, “I did not feel like he was under the influence of anything at the time so more than likely he was suffering from a mental health illness, but I am not a doctor.”
According to the deputies, the victim suffered “a small laceration on his head just above his left ear” and “was still slightly bleeding and he had blood all over his person.”
To sign up for our new newsletter – Everyday Injustice – https://tinyurl.com/yyultcf9
Support our work – to become a sustaining at $5 – $10- $25 per month hit the link:
