Williams v. State

── Williams v. State ── Court: Supreme Court of Georgia Date: June 02, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: This opinion is subject to modification resulting from motions for reconsideration under Supreme Court Rule 27, the Court’s reconsideration, and editorial revisions by the Reporter of Decisions. The version of the opinion published in the Advance Sheets for the Georgia Reports, designated as the “Final Copy,” will replace any prior version on the Court’s website and docket. A bound volume of the Georgia Reports will contain the final and official text of the opinion. In the Supreme Court of Georgia No. S26A0547 Antonio Williams v. The State On Appeal from the Superior Court of DeKalb County No. 20CR2680 Decided: June 2, 2026 MCMILLIAN, Justice. Antonio Williams appeals from his convictions for malice murder and other crimes in connection with the stabbing death of his mother, Terri Alexander. 1 Williams asserts that (1) he re- ceived constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel when his counsel failed to adequately explore Williams’s mental health and 1 The crimes were committed on March 5, 2020. In December 2020, a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Williams for malice murder (Count 1), fel- ony murder (Count 2), aggravated assault-family violence (Count 3), and pos- session of a knife during the commission of a felony (Count 4). At a jury trial held in February 2024, Williams was found guilty on all counts. The trial court sentenced Williams to serve life in prison for malice murder (Count 1) and a consecutive five-year term in prison for possession of a knife during the com- mission of a felony (Count 4); the remaining counts either merged for sentenc- ing purposes or were vacated by operation of law. Williams timely filed a mo- tion for new trial, which was amended by new counsel in June 2025. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the motion for new trial, as amended, on July 17, 2025. Williams timely filed a notice of appeal, and his case was docketed to the term of this Court beginning in December 2025. (2) the trial court erred by failing to sua sponte inquire into Wil- liams’s competency to stand trial. Because the record belies each of these enumerations, we affirm. In 2019, Williams came to live with Alexander in DeKalb County while she tried to get him medical treatment for his par- anoid schizophrenia. On February 25, 2020, Alexander contacted 911 for assistance with Williams, and a mobile crisis unit re- sponded to her home. 2 Alexander explained that Williams became upset with her when she asked him to clean his bathroom. The responding officer testified that Williams was “on the floor, and he was agitated.” Williams said he was “hallucinating and hear- ing voices.” The members of the mobile crisis unit ultimately de- termined that Williams needed to be hospitalized based on his di- agnosed schizophrenia and failure to take his prescribed medica- tion. Williams, who had been hospitalized several times before, did not want to go, but he was transported to Grady Hospital in handcuffs for an involuntary 72-hour hold. Williams remained hospitalized there until March 4, 2020. Cell phone records showed that Alexander’s cell phone received several calls from Grady Hospital in the early morning hours on the day that Williams was released. Alexander’s cell phone then traveled to Grady Hospital around 10:00 a.m. that morning,