Court dates reshuffled for Vaca man accused of fatal stabbing
Judge orders Kristopher M. Williams, charged with the death of Jonathan Russell, 30, of San Francisco, to return Feb. 16
Court dates have been rescheduled and some added for a 34-year-old Vacaville man charged with the death of another man after an October 2018 stabbing outside a rural Vacaville home.
Judge William J. Pendergast ordered Kristopher Michael Williams, who was scheduled to appear Monday in Department 11 for a readiness conference and trial setting, to return for those same proceedings, plus a motion to set bail and a pretrial services report, at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 16 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. (A planned jury trial in the case was vacated late last year.)
Williams is represented by Vallejo-based criminal defense attorney Daniel J. Russo, and court records appear to indicate Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro may be leading the prosecution.
The defendant faces a first-degree murder charge for the death of Jonathan “Johnny” Russell, 30, of San Francisco, whom investigators believe Williams stabbed in the neck in the early evening hours of Oct. 23, 2018, after an argument outside a home in the 5800 block of Fry Road.
Russell underwent surgery at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center. Several days later he was declared brain dead, taken off life support, and died.
Williams also was initially charged with the stabbing and attempted murder of Gary Nofuentes, who is in his 30s, and also was in the home at the time of the attack, but court records in recent past months have not listed the felony charge.
In addition to the murder charge, Williams faces four related felony charges. They include kidnapping of a minor under 14; assault with a deadly weapon; child endangerment; and burglary of an inhabited dwelling.
During a held-to-answer arraignment in late October 2019, Williams pleaded not guilty to all charges. If found guilty of them all at trial, however, Williams may face more than 50 years in prison.
Sheriff’s investigators said Williams was disturbed by an ongoing child custody battle and believed Nofuentes’ daughter belonged with her mother, Kailyn Scarlett Gibson, who at the time was a friend of Williams and was seeking to gain custody rights in Solano County Family Court.
Williams was later arrested at his residence in the 600 block of Roscommon Drive in Vacaville.
Dr. Arnold Josselson, a forensic pathologist in Fairfield, who performed the autopsy on Russell and testified during the October 2019 preliminary hearing, said the victim died from the stab wound to the neck.
Earlier in 2019, Pendergast severed the trials for others connected to Williams’ alleged crimes.
Gibson, 31, is charged with dissuading a witness; cruelty to a child by inflicting injury; and eavesdropping by recording confidential information. After her arrest on Nov. 16, 2018, she posted a $75,000 bond and was released from custody. She is represented by Fairfield criminal defense attorney Denis Honeychurch. If convicted at trial, Gibson may face as much as three years in prison.
Also charged in the case is Jessica Anne Weirich, 30, who reportedly drove Williams to the Fry Road home, just south of Elmira. She is accused of being an accessory after the fact. After her arrest, also on Nov. 16, she posted a $25,000 bond and was released from custody. She is represented by defense attorney Barry K. Newman. If convicted at trial, Weirich, likewise, may face as much as three years in prison.
Gibson and Weirich return to Department 11 at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 4 for a readiness conference and to set a preliminary hearing.