OAKLAND — A Vallejo resident has been sentenced through a plea deal that made his murder charge go away in favor of a less serious offense, court records show.
Aaron Frazier, 33, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the Sept. 26, 2024 homicide of 47-year-old Billy Santayana Williams, who was shot and killed on the 3400 block of Wilson Avenue in Oakland. Police say that Williams was killed moments after hanging up the phone from a heated call with his significant other, who just happened to be Frazier’s mother.
Frazier was sentenced to eight years through the plea deal on March 6, court records show.
Frazier’s lawyer, Seth Morris, said in a statement to this newspaper that Williams had threatened to harm Frazier’s mom and to sexually assault his teen sister, and that he’d recorded a video of himself holding a gun hours before he was killed. At the time, police said they’d found evidence Williams had threatened to rape and kill Frazier’s sister, a teen girl at the time.
“When Mr. Frazier arrived the next morning to speak to Mr. Williams, Mr. Williams pulled a firearm and attacked Mr. Frazier. Mr. Frazier responded in lawful self-defense,” Morris said.
The voluntary manslaughter charge carries homicides that are committed “in the head of passion” or through “imperfect” self-defense, according to California law.
At the time of Williams’ death, members of his family told KCBS that he was working on a beautification project in Oakland and was eager to rebuild his life after spending years behind bars.
Williams was charged in 2021 with raping a 17-year-old girl, who told police that Williams had held her against her will at a Dublin apartment and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. After his lawyer argued the girl made inconsistent statements to police, Williams pleaded no contest to possessing an illegally modified pistol and the rape charges were dropped, court records show. He was released from jail almost exactly four months before he was killed.