Optimism devolved into abuse, stepmother testifies

Delilah Williams testified in U.S. District Court on Tuesday that when her husband Naeem Williams gained custody of her stepdaughter Talia, the couple thought they could help fix the little girl’s problems with bladder and bowel-movement control.

"I just felt she wasn’t potty-trained," she said.

Also, the stepmother believed Talia had been spoiled by her husband’s mother, who cared for the girl before Naeem Williams had custody of the child, who arrived in Hawaii in December 2004 to live with her father and stepmother at Wheeler Army Airfield.

Initially, Delilah Williams said, she and her husband talked to Talia, repeating instructions about going to the bathroom before having an "accident." When that failed, she felt it was because Talia wasn’t following instructions and that the accidents were intentional.

The couple then started punishing Talia by hitting the girl with a plastic ruler they called "Mr. Paddle." When the ruler broke, they began striking Talia with a belt.

Later, she said, beatings were touched off by frustration over the difficulties in the marriage.

Naeem Williams, 34, a former Schofield Barracks soldier, is on trial for capital murder for the July 16, 2005, child abuse beating death of his 5-year-old daughter.

He is facing the death penalty under federal law because he is accused of causing the death of a child through child abuse or as part of a pattern and practice of abuse and torture.

There is no death penalty under Hawaii law.

Delilah Williams, 30, is testifying as a government witness against her husband and has already testified that it was her husband who delivered the fatal blow. She pleaded guilty to murder in December 2006 in exchange for a 20-year sentence. She was facing a mandatory life prison term.

Delilah Williams said that by March 2005 she was angry about her husband communicating with other women, getting drunk and staying out all night with his friends. She was also having to maintain the couple’s household and finances and return to work after just giving birth to Azrah, the couple’s first child together.

Talia’s behavior changed after Azrah’s arrival, she said. Delilah Williams said she believed Talia was intentionally having more bathroom accidents as a way of seeking attention.

So when Talia had an accident, Delilah Williams said, Naeem Williams knew what she wanted when she told him to handle it.

"I wasn’t satisfied until he beat her," she said. "Because we argued so much, I was looking for an outlet elsewhere to focus my anger on."

If her husband only talked to Talia about perceived behavior problems, she said she continued to "get on" him until he gave the child a beating, or she would beat Talia herself.

According to a report from a doctor who examined Talia when she was 3 years old, Talia could not detect whether and when she needed to go to the bathroom.

Talia’s biological mother, Tarshia Williams, testified last week that her daughter had developmental delays because she was born prematurely.

A South Carolina family court judge awarded custody of Talia to Naeem Williams. Talia suffered from some health conditions and developmental delays and was not thriving under her mother’s care, the court ruled.