Devaughan Williams faces a capital murder charge in the September 2024 shooting death of 25-year-old Kiara Allani Smith.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Devaughan Williams is scheduled to stand trial Sept. 14 on a capital murder charge in the 2024 shooting death of Kiara Allani Smith.
Williams appeared in court Thursday for a status hearing.
Smith, the 25-year-old mother of Williams’ child, was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound during the early morning hours of Sept. 6, 2024.
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Corpus Christi police responded to her apartment after other residents reported hearing gunshots and finding Smith’s body.
Williams, who was 22 at the time, turned himself in at the Nueces County Sheriff’s Office around 4 p.m. that same day. He has remained in the Nueces County Jail since.
Smith’s aunt, Bridget Dorsey, previously told 3NEWS that she had allowed Smith and Williams to stay at her home. Dorsey described the shooting as an act of domestic violence.
Corpus Christi police also said the couple had a history of reported domestic violence.
Williams was out on bail at the time of Smith’s death in connection with a December 2023 deadly conduct charge involving the discharge of a firearm.
He also faces charges stemming from earlier alleged incidents involving Smith, including assault of a pregnant person in June 2023 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in November 2023.
Williams was initially charged with murder and later indicted on a capital murder charge. Judge Susan Barclay denied a defense motion to quash the capital murder indictment in March.
His trial is scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 14, just over two years from the day the crime was committed.
3NEWS will provide updates on the trial.