HAWAII – A former Army soldier was sentenced Friday to life in prison for the murder of his five-year-old daughter, officials said.
Naeem Williams, 34, forced the child, Talia Williams, to endure beatings, eat her own feces and whipped her with a belt because of “bathroom accidents,” officials said.
On June 27, the federal jury in Honolulu who found guilty of murder but was unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether to send him to death row.
Jurors found that Naeem Williams killed the child on July 16, 2005 by beating and punching her at the family’s residence on Wheeler Army Airfield in Honolulu.
Williams was also convicted of participating, along with his wife, Delilah Williams, of assault and torture against the child from December 2004 until July 16, 2005, officials said.
In addition, Williams was convicted of conspiring to engage in a pattern and practice of assault and torture leading to death, obstructing justice, and making false statements to Army Criminal Investigation Division agents on the night of his arrest in July 2005, officials said.
The evidence at trial indicated that Naeem Williams and his wife beat Talia Williams almost daily.
In the hours preceding her death, Naeem Williams struck Talia and her head slammed backwards against the floor. Talia then appeared to have a seizure, the evidence indicated.
Delilah Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder, agreed to testify against her husband and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, officials said.