News

Mom blamed adopted daughter for dying

Skagit County, Wash. — Jurors heard Carri Williams blame her own daughter for dying during day 17 of the Skagit murder-and-abuse trial.

Williams spoke to detectives at the hospital just hours after Hana Williams froze and starved to death at the family home.

In the recorded 35-minute interview, Williams told the detective, "She started throwing herself around all over the place and just kind of ignored it."

Williams immediately blamed the Ethiopian girl for her own death, claiming the teen had been disobedient for months. Hana wouldn't brush her teeth and her hair was dirty, according to Williams.

"She refused to wash the shampoo out of her hair, so we shaved her head," she said.

The adopted girl spent her last night outside the family's gated home. Carri Williams said she told Hana to come inside but the girl refused.

Several of Larry and Carri Williams' seven children testified Hana was being punished and told to exercise to stay warm. According to the children, Hana was hit with a switch by her mother and brothers for resting and finally collapsed.

"Half of her was lying on the grass and the other half of her was on the patio. And I honestly thought she was just pretending," said Carri Williams.

She put a sheet over the girl's 78-pound body, called her husband, then called 911.

"I said, 'She killed herself. I think she's dead,'" said Carri Williams.

The conservative Christian parents could face life in prison if convicted of killing Hana and abusing their adopted son, Immanuel. He testified the Ethiopian pair were beaten, fed frozen food and forced to sleep in closets as punishment for misbehaving.

People in the courtroom teared up, but a security guard who stayed with the Williams at the hospital said there were no tears that night.

"She was not emotional," he said of Carri Williams.

After nearly three weeks of testimony, prosecutors will wrap up their case this week. 

Want to talk about the news of the day? Watch free streaming video on the KIRO 7 mobile app and iPad app, and join us here on Facebook.