A state appellate court has overturned a Syracuse man’s murder conviction for a second time, ordering a new trial in the case.
The ruling involving Shala Williams was issued Friday by the Appellate Division in Rochester. Williams had been convicted in a 2023 retrial of fatally shooting his uncle, Angelo Jenkins, following an earlier conviction that was also overturned on appeal.
Prosecutors said Williams shot Jenkins and his girlfriend through a back window of Jenkins’ home on Highland Street in 2013, hours after an argument inside the residence. Jenkins later died from his injuries.
Williams has consistently maintained his innocence. At his 2023 sentencing, he told the court he would not apologize for a crime he said he did not commit.
The appellate court reversed both convictions over issues tied to a previously unheard witness and the potential impact that testimony could have had on jurors.
That witness came forward shortly after Williams’ first trial, claiming he saw someone else commit the shooting and that Williams was not present. However, Williams’ trial attorney at the time, Lisa Gilels, determined the account conflicted with other witness statements and did not pursue it further. Then-Judge Joseph Fahey also declined to overturn the original verdict based on the new information.
In its earlier 2022 decision, the appellate court found Williams received ineffective assistance of counsel, citing the failure to fully investigate and present the witness’s account.
With the latest ruling, Williams’ second conviction has now been vacated, and he is expected to face a third trial in the case.
