Man ordered to stand trial in beating death of roommate at retirement home

OAKLAND >> An Alameda County judge ordered a 49-year- old Hayward man to stand trial on charges that he beat and stomped his 75-year-old roommate to death last year.

John Willis is facing murder and elder abuse charges in the death of Jerrill Timmons. He is being held in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail. Willis is charged in connection with an Oct. 5, 2019, beating at Hayward Haven Independent Living, a retirement home on Flint Court. Timmons survived for nearly three weeks after the beating. Police say Timmons was severely injured — he reportedly suffered bleeding in his brain, damage to his carotid artery and a broken jaw — and died from those injuries while a hospice case Oct. 23.

The fight, according to a Hayward police probable cause statement filed in court, was over “unsanitary living conditions” in the unit where Timmons and Willis lived together. Willis allegedly admitted to police that he tried to break Timmons’ neck with a chokehold, then knocked him to the ground and stomped on his head while wearing boots.

According to the police probable- cause statement, Willis said he intended to kill Timmons that day.

It was Willis who called 911 after the attack, according to police. When the arrived, Timmons was breathing “very slowly” and rushed to a nearby hospital, authorities said. Willis initially was charged with attempted murder and elder abuse. After Timmons died, Alameda County prosecutors filed a new criminal complaint charging Willis with murder in place of the attempted murder count.

Willis has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. Willis’ next court date, an arraignment hearing, has been set for Jan. 4 at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, court records show.