CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Still recovering from physical and emotional trauma, Megan Williams is glad a hate crime charge stuck against at least one of the seven people who allegedly tortured her, her legal adviser said.
“She is behind longer sentences being pursued in these crimes against her,” Malik Shabazz said Monday at a news conference in Charleston. “The ringleaders in this crime have yet to be brought to justice. We’re hoping the judge will come down hard on these defendants.”
Shabazz, a co-founder of Washington, D.C.-based Black Lawyers for Justice, said he was in Charleston to hold the news conference and visit Williams, who “had surgery today and is feeling pretty good in this hour to know some of them have received the sentences they received.”
Shabazz did not explicitly describe the surgery, noting that it had to do with a stick prosecutors gathered from the trailer in Big Creek where the 20-year-old black woman was allegedly held captive and forced to eat animal feces, sexually assaulted and stabbed.
“A stick was found in the residence with brown and red stains,” Shabazz said. “Megan Williams has had to have surgeries for injuries related to that piece of evidence.”
Shabazz said Williams expected to be released from the hospital Monday.
She was rescued Sept. 8 after an anonymous caller alerted Logan County sheriff’s deputies.
Three of the seven charged in the crime have pleaded guilty.
Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, pleaded guilty in Logan County Circuit Court to malicious wounding, assault and violating Williams’ civil rights. The charges carry up to 30 years in prison, and sentencing is set for March 3.
Burton was charged with a hate crime because authorities say she stabbed Williams in the ankle while saying “This is what we do to (racial expletive) down here.”
Logan County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Abraham said he agreed to dismiss a kidnapping count that carries a maximum life sentence.
Shabazz praised Abraham’s vigor and consistency in prosecuting the case.
“I think Mr. Abraham looked at the evidence and did the wise thing,” Shabazz said of the decision to charge Burton with a bias crime.
Abraham did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Authorities angered many of Williams’ supporters by initially refraining from charging any defendants with a hate crime. The hate-crime charge against Burton came when grand jury indictments in the case were handed up last week.
Abraham has said that although other defendants used the same racial slur Burton used, her use of the word while stabbing Williams made her act more clearly a hate crime.
Karen Burton’s daughter, 23-year-old Alisha Burton, and 27-year-old George A. Messer pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assault and received 10-year prison sentences.
Felony charges including kidnapping and sexual assault are pending against Bobby Brewster, 24; his mother, Frankie Brewster, 49, of Big Creek; and Danny Combs, 20, of Harts. A seventh defendant, Burton’s son, Linnie Burton Jr., 21, was indicted last week on a misdemeanor battery charge. All have denied wrongdoing.
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