Relatives Married, 2 children Name Ronald Williams Years of service 1992 - 1995 | Country United States Badge number 1474 | |
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Born June 8, 1969 ( 1969-06-08 ) New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Department New Orleans Police Department Similar People Helen Hill, Mary S Sherman, VL Mike, David Hennessy, Melvin La'Branch III Died March 4, 1995 (aged 25) , New Orleans, Louisiana, United States Nationality American | ||
Antoinette Frank denied clemency by Louisiana Pardon Board
Ronald Austin "Ronnie" Williams II (June 8, 1969 – March 4, 1995) was a New Orleans Police Officer who was mortally wounded along with two employees of a family-run Vietnamese restaurant during an armed robbery attempt on March 4, 1995. The shooters were a fellow New Orleans police officer, Antoinette Frank and her accomplice, Rogers Lacaze.
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Death
Officer Williams was in uniform while working night detail at the Kim Anh restaurant in New Orleans East when fellow officer, 23-year-old Antoinette Frank, and 18-year-old Rogers Lacaze entered the closed restaurant in the early hours of March 4, 1995. The Kim Anh restaurant, was owned and operated by the Vu family. Four siblings were working that night: Ha, Chau, Quoc and Cuong.
Frank and Lacaze had been at the restaurant twice earlier in the night to get leftover food to eat. When Chau had let her out on the last visit, she could not find the front door key, and with Frank returning again for a third time, she sensed something was very wrong. Chau ran to the kitchen to hide the money in the microwave. Frank entered the front door using the key that she had stolen from the restaurant earlier, and walked quickly past Williams, pushing Chau, one of Chau's brothers, Quoc, and a restaurant employee into the doorway of the restaurant's kitchen. Williams started to follow in hopes of finding out what was going on when shots rang out. Lacaze had slipped behind Williams and shot him in the neck, severing his spinal cord and instantly paralyzing him. As Williams fell, Lacaze shot him in the head and back, mortally wounding him.
Frank held twenty-five-year-old Ha and her 17-year-old brother, Cuong, at gunpoint while demanding to know where the money was hidden. After pistol-whipping Cuong, Frank found the money in the microwave, then shot and killed Ha and Cuong. Chau, Quoc, and another employee witnessed the carnage while hiding in a large walk-in cooler in the restaurant.
Frank and Lacaze were each charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Frank was believed to be the first New Orleans police officer to be charged with killing a fellow officer. They were subsequently found guilty in separate trials and sentenced to death.
On July 23, 2015, retired district judge Michael Kirby threw out Rogers LaCaze's conviction and sentence and ordered a new trial. Kirby said that LaCaze deserved a new trial because one of the jurors had hidden the fact that he was a Louisiana state trooper and had previously worked as a railroad policeman. At the time, commissioned law enforcement officers were legally barred from sitting on a jury. Kirby wrote that while he felt the evidence of LaCaze's guilt was "overwhelming," the juror misconduct amounted to a "structural defect" and a "violation of a constitutional right so basic to a fair trial" that the only remedy was a new trial. Kirby's ruling has no effect on Frank's conviction.
Family
Ronald A. Williams II was raised in New Orleans and graduated from Brother Martin High School in 1987. After high school, Williams married Mary A. Buras, his high school sweetheart, whose family lived across the street from the Williams' home. Ronnie and Mary's first son, Christopher, was born in 1989. Williams joined the New Orleans Police Department in 1992 and began working night detail at the Kim Anh restaurant to supplement his policeman's salary. The restaurant was located on Bullard Boulevard in New Orleans East not far from the Williams' and Buras' family homes. Ronnie and Mary had a second son, Patrick in February 1995, a week prior to the murders. Officer Williams was interred in Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery on March 7, 1995. His name was inscribed on the Memorial Wall at The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C. during National Police Week the following year.