JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — *WARNING: Some details in this story may be disturbing to readers.
Sentencing for Brianna Williams, the mother of a dead 5-year-old, began Thursday.
Williams is a former Navy Petty Officer First Class at NAS Jax who has been in jail since November 2019, originally charged with aggravated child abuse, lying to police and tampering with evidence in the death of her daughter, Taylor Rose Williams.
Williams pleaded guilty to second degree murder at her twentieth pretrial hearing in March.
Prosecutors contend that Williams tortured, maliciously punished or caged Taylor between the last time the girl was seen alive in April 2019 and when Brianna Williams reported her daughter missing in November of that year.
Police documents in the case against Williams paint a dark picture of her daughter’s brief life.
Reports show investigators discovered a closet in Williams’ Southside apartment reeking of bodily waste and human decomposition, as well as bloodstains on the carpet and walls that tested positive for Taylor Williams’ DNA.
Investigators believe Williams kept her 5-year-old daughter in that closet when she was not at home.
Officials contend she tortured, maliciously punished or caged Taylor sometime between the last time the girl was seen alive in April 2019 and when Williams reported the girl missing in November 2019.
The girl’s remains were found buried days later outside the small Alabama town where Williams grew up.
Reporting from court Thursday: