Woman's body found
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on May 29, 2016 1:45 AM
Part of the body of Tricia Williams Todd, a 30-year-old Air Force veteran whose ex-husband admitted to killing her in front of their 2-year-old child, was found late Thursday night in a marshy area of south Florida.
Ms. Todd's ex-husband, Steven Isaiah Williams, 30, is an airman who was stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and confessed to killing Ms. Todd and then disposing of her body. Williams was charged with second-degree murder and child neglect last week.
Williams pleaded no contest to the charge of second-degree murder, and is expected to be sentenced to 35 years in prison as part of a plea deal.
Only partial remains of Ms. Todd's body were found deep inside the Hungryland State Preserve off of Pratt Whitney Road in Martin County, Fla., where Williams led investigators.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said in a news conference Friday that Williams likely used a chain saw to dismember Ms. Todd before putting parts of her body inside a drum filled with liquid and acid.
According to a news release from the Sheriff's Office, the majority of Ms. Todd's body is still unaccounted for and only small fragments of tissue were recovered Friday from the drum.
Nearly a dozen phone calls placed to the Martin County Sheriff's Office during a 24-hour period requesting further comment on this case were not returned as of press time.
Williams is scheduled to appear in court in Martin County, Fla., on June 24, where a judge will formally sentence him.
Williams told the Martin County Sheriff's Office that he killed Ms. Todd by pushing her during an argument, which caused her to fall and suffer a fatal wound to the head.
According to Williams' arrest report, the death occurred just after 2 a.m. on April 27.
Ms. Todd was reported missing on April 28 after failing to pick up her 2-year-old daughter from a babysitter in Florida. Williams had dropped off the child with the babysitter the morning of April 27.
According to Williams' arrest affidavit, he left Florida the morning of April 27 to return to his home in North Carolina at 5160 Busted Rock Trail, Raleigh, and left the 2-year-old with the babysitter in Florida.
Williams was interviewed several times by law enforcement officers from Florida prior to his confessing of murdering Ms. Todd earlier last week.
Investigators with the Martin County Sheriff's Office interviewed Williams at his home in Raleigh after arriving on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Williams was interviewed by investigators at his home throughout the late night hours of Monday.
Williams then voluntarily agreed to fly back to Florida with the investigators, and boarded a flight from Raleigh to Orlando with the investigators at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning after staying the night with investigators at the Hyatt Hotel in Morrisville.
During the course of the interview process from Monday night to Tuesday night, Williams told investigators several different versions of what happened during his visit to Florida in late April.
After being confronted with forensic evidence from the crime scene, Williams confessed to murdering Ms. Todd.
Williams was renting a house at 6204 Southeast Orange Blossom Trail, Hobe Sound, Fla., during his visit to Florida, and had his and Ms. Todd's 2-year-old child with him.
Williams told investigators the child became fussy, and he sent a text to Ms. Todd asking her to come to his rental house. According to Williams' arrest affidavit, Ms. Todd arrived at the rental house after midnight, and the two began arguing over money.
Williams told investigators Ms. Todd allegedly "got in his face" multiple times during the argument. He pushed her away once, but Ms. Todd allegedly continued arguing with Williams and "got in his face" again.
Williams then shoved Ms. Todd away from him, which caused her to fall and strike her head on an unspecified object.
After Ms. Todd fell and struck her head, Williams told investigators he heard "labored and raspy breathing," panicked, and then put Ms. Todd in the back of her own car before driving her car back toward her home at 11411 Southeast Federal Highway, Hobe Sound, Fla.
As Williams approached the house, he noticed lights at her house were on and a car was in the driveway, so he told investigators he then drove Ms. Todd's car to an unspecified dirt road and dumped her body on the side of the road.
Williams told investigators he left Ms. Todd's iPhone and wallet lying beside her so it would appear she was hitchhiking if she woke up.
This account provided by Williams contradicts the manner in which investigators found Ms. Todd's body on Thursday.
There is also no information available on what will happen to the child.