Willie Wilks was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for the murder of Ororo Wilkins
According to court documents Willie Wilks was searching for Ororo Wilkins brother over a stolen bank card. However when he reached the residence he would open fire killing Ororo Wilkins and injuring a man
Willie Wilks would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Willie Wilks Photos
Willie Wilks Now
Number
A653706
DOB
12/13/1971
Gender
Male
Race
Black
Admission Date
05/12/2014
Institution
Chillicothe Correctional Institution
Status
INCARCERATED
Willie Wilks Case
The Ohio Supreme Court today affirmed the conviction and death sentence of a man who approached the porch area of a Youngstown home with a semiautomatic rifle, shot a woman to death, and wounded a man holding an infant.
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Willie Wilks Jr.’s challenge to his 2014 convictions and death sentence for the May 2013 murder of Ororo Wilkins and the attempted murders of Alexander Morales Jr. and William Wilkins Jr. The murders stemmed from a running dispute that started earlier in the day between Wilkins Jr., known as “Mister,” and Wilks, who was the boyfriend of Wilkins’ mother.
Wilks argued at trial that he was innocent and raised 19 legal arguments on appeal, known as propositions of law, against his convictions and death penalty. He asserted that the sentence was inappropriate compared with others tried in Mahoning County for aggravated murder who did not receive the death penalty.
Writing for the Court, Justice Judith L. French stated that “the death penalty is both appropriate and proportionate when compared to other course-of-conduct murders for which the death penalty has been imposed.”
In the afternoon of May 21, 2013, Mister and Morales drove to the home of Renea Jenkins, Mister’s girlfriend. Mister lived at the home and went to his upstairs bedroom. Ororo Wilkins, Mister’s sister, and Morales were seated on Jenkins’ porch. Morales was holding Jenkins’ 5-month-old daughter when Wilks arrived.
Morales testified that a dark blue or purple-colored car with a driver and two passengers pulled up to the home. He said Wilks exited the car and walked up to the porch with an “AK rifle” and asked where Mister was. Morales turned with the baby to go inside and Wilks shot him in the back. As Ororo went to pick up the baby, Wilks shot her in the head. Mister stated that he screamed at Wilks from a window in the upstairs bedroom when Wilks was shooting toward the porch, and Wilks shot at him and hit the house.
Investigators found a single 7.62-by-39 mm shell casing on the front porch. They discovered a bullet strike near the front-door window and one on the upper-story siding. Police learned that Wilks had purchased a 2004 purple Dodge Stratus four days before the shooting. The day after the shooting police spotted Wilks driving a minivan owned by his girlfriend, Mary Aragon, who is Mister’s mother. Wilks abandoned the vehicle and fled, but was apprehended after a short chase.
http://www.courtnewsohio.gov/cases/2018/SCO/0424/141035.asp#.YGN9tSjYrrc
