GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – A girl who watched as her father was killed and a friend was shot testified Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of pulling the trigger in what authorities believe was a dispute over $35.
Jonathan Williams is accused of shooting 32-year-old Buddy Pickett and a teenage neighbor, Audrey Johns, in January 2008. Clay County deputies said Williams and three children went to Williams' Old Dine Road home to collect a debt.
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Pickett died at the scene. Johns, who was 14 at the time, was shot in the leg and later recovered.
According to the arrest report, Johns and Pickett's daughter, who was 11 at the time, first knocked on Williams' door and asked for the money. Witnesses told deputies Pickett approached the house after Williams yelled at the children.
Deputies were told Williams then went into the house and instead of coming back with the money, he returned with a 30-06 rifle and shot Pickett and Johns.
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Investigators were told that when Pickett's wife and father came to the shooting scene to try to tend to his injuries, Williams threatened to kill them.
Deputies said they recovered the gun at the scene. Williams was questioned, then arrested hours later and charged with murder and aggravated assault.
"I heard a gunshot and I didn't know what was going on," said Penny Pickett, Buddy's wife, who tried to save her husband's life. "I started performing CPR for him. I was breathing and his dad was pumping his chest."
Defense attorneys claimed that Williams was threatened not only by the victim, but also by his relatives, and that the shooting was in self-defense.
Relatives who testified painted a different picture of what happened.
Buddy Pickett Sr., the victim's father, said Williams pointed the gun at him when he tried helping his son.
"I heard him messing with the bolt, and he said, 'You're lucky I can't get it unjammed,'" Pickett Sr. said.
Johns, the teenage girl, said she saw Williams shoot Pickett and was also wounded herself.
Previous Story:
- January 26, 2008: Man Accused Of Killing Middleburg Neighbor
- January 25, 2008: Man Killed, Teen Shot In Middleburg Dispute