Prep basketball star Mikey Williams to face 3 additional charges in shooting case

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) — Star Memphis basketball recruit Mikey Williams is facing three additional felony charges in a March 27 shooting and was ordered to personally appear in court on Friday for arraignment on nine total charges.

Williams was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, when Superior Court Judge Kathleen M. Lewis seemed surprised that he and new co-counsel Randy Grossman appeared via teleconference rather than in person. Grossman said Williams’ other attorney, Troy Owens, was busy with a murder case and had contacted the district attorney’s office rather than the court to request to appear via videoconference.

Deputy District Attorney George Modlin said he preferred that Williams and his attorney appear in person due to the additional charges and because he wanted to address Williams’ bail status. Lewis ordered Williams to appear Friday.

Williams was present for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 10, when Judge Sherry M. Thompson-Taylor ordered him to stand trial. She also denied the prosecution’s request to increase Williams’ bail to $500,000. Williams has been free on a $50,000 bond since his arrest on April 13.

Williams, who finished his prep career at San Ysidro High School, is accused in a March 27 shooting at his $1.2 million home in unincorporated Jamul in eastern San Diego County. An argument just before midnight ended with gunshots being fired at a car that was leaving the house with five passengers inside, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. Bullets hit the car, but nobody inside was injured, authorities said.

He originally was charged with five counts of assault with a weapon and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle, which would carry a sentence of 28 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Each of the three new charges would add eight months in prison.

Testimony at Williams’ preliminary hearing indicated there were six people in the car, including an Uber driver, and that Williams had made threats. That testimony led the prosecution to add an additional count of assault with a weapon and two counts of making threats.

A juvenile witness testified she and a group of friends took an Uber to Williams’ home so she could meet with JJ Taylor, who was living there and also has committed to play at Memphis. The girl said she went inside while the others waited in the car, but that Williams appeared angry and began to make threats.

At Williams’ preliminary hearing, Thompson-Taylor said that while no witnesses saw Williams fire a gun, there is probable cause to move the case forward based on testimony that witnesses saw him with a gun and heard him threaten to kill them. Modlin presented photos of bullet holes in a Tesla Model 3 that transported five people to Williams’ home.

Williams is enrolled in online classes at Memphis and remains on the roster but does not have access to team facilities or activities, and his status with the program will be determined when the court case is resolved, the school said late last month.

The Tigers began practice on Sept. 25 and open the season Nov. 6 at home against Jackson State.

Williams was one of the name, image and likeness era’s earliest stars, securing a multiyear deal with shoe and athletic apparel maker Puma for an undisclosed amount in 2021. He had millions of followers across his social media platforms before apparently deactivating them. On3.com once estimated his NIL valuation at $3.6 million, but Williams’ name no longer appears in the rankings.