Judge denies Williams' bid to escape death for Warren killing, beating

WARREN

A Trumbull County Common Pleas Court judge has found Andre Williams failed to definitively prove that he’s intellectually disabled enough to escape death for his crimes.

Williams sought relief from the death penalty for killing George Melnick, 65, and beating nearly to death his wife, Katherine, 64, in 1988.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had earlier found that the common pleas court court must reassess its earlier conclusions.

Judge W. Wyatt McKay released his ruling on Thursday.

The 6th Circuit said previously that Judge McKay and the 11th District Court of Appeals should have considered evidence relating Williams having an IQ score of 67 at age 15. Williams also had IQ scores in the 70s at other times.

A co-defendant, Christopher W. Daniel, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery and sentenced to 37 to 100 years in prison.