Trial delayed for man charged in homicide of 19-year-old Navy sailor in West Allis
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A jury trial for a 37-year-old man charged in last year's deadly shooting of a Navy sailor in West Allis was supposed to start Monday morning, but after a couple of hours in court, the judge decided to push it back.
The suspect, Derrick Williams, faces a first-degree intentional homicide charge for the alleged murder of 19-year-old Phoenix Castanon.
West Allis police reported that on May 8, 2022, the sailor died trying to protect a friend who was allegedly being harassed.
When Judge Jefrey A. Wagner asked Monday if everyone was ready to proceed in the case, Williams voiced his concerns.
"I would like to discharge my attorney here, we're not on the same page," he said.
Williams told the judge he wanted to get rid of his attorney, who said Williams does not want to abide by his planned strategies.
"There's been lots of factual questions Mr. Williams has had, that we believe we've answered, but it's not to his satisfaction," said Attorney Aneeq Ahmad. "The predicament I'm in, judge, is strategic matters versus a defendant's right to testify."
The judge acknowledged that Williams' lawyer has been on this case for a little over a year now and is prepared to go to trial. Still, Williams objected.
"If I have to defend myself, I will," Williams said.
However, Judge Wagner said he didn't have to.
The court took a couple of long pauses so that Williams could talk to his counsel in private.
"Is it that you want another lawyer, sir?" the judge asked once again. "Do you understand that that's going to cause a significant delay in the trial because that lawyer, then, is going to have to go through all the discovery that your lawyer has been doing for the past year?"
The state expressed their disappointment in having to delay the trial's start date, which is now slated for Sept. 21.
"I would just note that the state was absolutely ready to proceed the trial today," said Grant Ian Huebner. "We had 31 witnesses set and ready to testify, we had all of the experts, as well as law enforcement officers from two different agencies ready to go; we have personally gone through, I have personally gone through over 1,600 different items of evidence...the fact that this is being brought up on the day of trial, I think is problematic."
A new public defender will be appointed within the next 10 days. The judge added that the new attorney will not be able to excuse themselves from this trial moving forward.
According to a criminal complaint, Castanon and his fiancé had been at a club earlier in the night with their friend. According to the complaint, their friend wanted to walk home from the club instead of getting a ride with the couple.
While she was walking home, an SUV pulled over near 84th and National. The driver, later identified as Williams, reportedly asked the woman if she wanted a ride, eventually saying, "get in my car." He then allegedly got out of the vehicle and tried to grab her.
The friend then allegedly ran toward the direction of her home near 84th and Becher, where Castanon and his fiancé were waiting. The friend got inside the vehicle and Castanon drove back toward the SUV.
The complaint said Castanon approached Williams and after words were exchanged, the friend reported hearing a single shot coming from the SUV before Williams fled the scene.