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Jurors hear 911 tape in death penalty case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Jurors on Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, hearing the capital murder case of a man accused of killing a woman on a North Side front porch, listened to a 911 tape of the shooting aftermath.
Although most of the tape contained incoherent screaming, what clearly could be heard was Ororo Wilkins’ brother, Willie Wilkins, screaming that his sister had been shot and killed and that he knew who did it.
On the tape, however, Willie Wilkins never identified 42-year-old Willie Wilks as the shooter.
Wilks could face the death penalty if he is convicted of the death of Ororo Wilkins, 20. He also is charged with wounding 25-year-old Alex Morales in the back and firing a shot at Willie Wilkins but missing him at a Park Avenue home May 21.
A 911 operator asks repeatedly for an address, but none could be heard over the screaming and crying.
“What’s the address? Where are you?” The 911 operator asks.
“What the [expletive] did he do?” Willie Wilkins can be heard shouting. “That’s my only sister, my only sister! He killed my sister! He killed my sister! He killed her! ... My sister’s dying! My sister’s dying! I watched him kill my sister!”
Later there is a blend of voices, and Willie Wilkins can be heard talking to one of the first police officers to arrive.
Willie Wilkins was shaking on the witness stand as the tape was played, and several jurors appeared disconcerted. Judge Lou D’Apolito had a grim look on his face.
Under cross-examination from one of Wilks’ attorneys, Tom Zena, Wilkins said he never mentioned Wilks’ name on the tape.
Assistant Prosecutor Rebecca Doherty said in opening statements Wednesday that the shooting stemmed from an argument Wilks and Willie Wilkins had earlier in the day. That’s when Willie Wilkins went to Wilks’ home with Morales and his mother, Mary, who was dating Willie Wilks.
Willie Wilkins was upset because his mother could not withdraw money from a bank because Wilks had all of her bank cards. The pair argued before Wilks pulled a gun on Willie Wilkins, and Willie Wilkins left with Morales to play basketball at a nearby park.
Willie Wilkins then called his mother and said he was upset because she stayed with her boyfriend, Wilks, even though Wilks pulled a gun on him. Wilks then grabbed the phone, the two argued, and Wilks threatened to kill him, Willie Wilkins testified.
However, Zena said that all the statements he has read that Willie Wilkins gave to investigators never mentioned that Wilks threatened to kill him on the phone. But Willie Wilkins said that Wilks did make the threat.
Later, Wilks came to the Park Avenue home and shot Morales on the porch as he was holding a baby, and Ororo Wilkins as she reached for the baby. She died instantly. Willie Wilkins was in an upstairs bedroom and saw the shootings, prosecutors said, and Wilks fired a shot at him from an AK-47 rifle he was carrying but missed. The baby was not harmed.
Willie Wilkins described how he saw his sister on the porch and at first he did not know where she was shot.
“When I grabbed her, I could feel it [blood] coming out of her head, and that’s when I realized that’s where she had been shot,” he said.
If jurors find that Wilks tried to kill two or more people, he could be eligible for the death penalty. Also testifying Thursday were members of the police department’s Crime Lab who collected evidence at the crime scene.