Williams files to run for state attorney
Prosecutor handled capital cases taken from Ayala’s office in 2017
A prosecutor who left Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s office to handle the death penalty cases then-Gov. Rick Scott took away from her is now running to supplant her as the region’s top prosecutor in 2020.
Ryan Williams departed the agency in 2017, after Ayala announced her office would not seek the death penalty against anyone. When Scott reassigned the circuit’s capital cases to Ocala-based State Attorney Brad King, Williams joined King’s team in order to prosecute those cases.
As of Tuesday morning, Ayala had not filed re-election paperwork for the November 2020 election. Only four of 20 state attorneys in Florida had, according to state and local records.
Williams has been a prosecutor for 10 years, moving from county court to handling sex crimes, major crimes and death penalty cases. He ran for Orange-Osceola state attorney in 2012 against longtime incumbent Lawson Lamar, but dropped out of the race before the election and backed fellow challenger Jeff Ashton.
Ashton, known for prosecuting Casey Anthony, defeated Lamar and hired Williams, who helped
revamp how the office chose and assigned cases. Ayala defeated Ashton in the August 2016 Democratic primary.
Williams is running as a Democrat. Republican Kevin Morenski, a lawyer practicing criminal defense and family law, announced his candidacy in 2017.