Criminal complaint details murder of man found dead at Southeast Park
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A criminal complaint filed by the Randall County DA’s office details today’s arrest of a woman tied to the murder of a man found dead at an Amarillo park in 2019.
47-year-old Mollie Franklin Williams, AKA Kristina Williams, was arrested today on a warrant for the murder of 30-year-old Richard Jesse Garza and booked into the Randall County Jail.
On December 17, 2019, at approximately 4:23 p.m., officers were called to Southeast Park located at 4601 South Osage Street on a welfare check. The caller told police a man was slumped over behind the wheel of a car.
When officers arrived, they found Garza dead from a gunshot wound to the head with no weapon in the car. Garza’s wallet and phone were not in the vehicle, but officers found four spent bullet casings in the car.
According to family members, Williams was the victim’s girlfriend for seven years and the couple had recently broken up before the incident.
“She used to even call me Uncle. Here I was thinking all along she loved my nephew, but not enough to kill him. She had the audacity to show up to my sister’s house and show some kind of affection and remorse when she showed up to the cemetery. She showed no feeling, whatsoever,” said Orlando Garza, the victims uncle.
Alex Garza, another relative of the victim, gave a statement indicating that Richard’s former girlfriend had made threats to kill Richard in the past.
Alex identified the ex-girlfriend as the defendant and said he had seen the her a few weeks before Richard’s death at Duke Tracy’s Bar.
According to the complaint, Williams told Alex she had friends, her ex-husband was in the military, and that she will “get the last laugh."
Alex explained Williams had stabbed Richard in the past and has been known to carry a handgun.
Around April 25, 2020 a handgun was found in Medi Park Lake by a woman who was “magnet fishing.” The woman called APD and the gun was booked into evidence as found property.
The gun was test fired so the cartridge casings could be compared. The cartridge casings were identified as a match to the four found in the vehicle where Richard Garza was found dead.
A trace on the firearm proved the gun was purchased by Williams at a pawn shop in Lubbock on November 18, 2019.
During an interview on June 12, 2020, Williams originally claimed she had not seen Richard since the middle of November.
When Williams arrived at the Amarillo Police Department to provide DNA samples, she began crying and admitted she had seen Richard on December 17, 2019 at the park where he was found dead.
Williams claimed she saw him, had sexual intercourse with him, gave him a birthday gift and then drove back to her home in Lubbock.
The last known data from the Richard’s phone, which is still missing, shows a ping at a cellular phone tower in Abernathy, Texas after Richard’s body was found.
During the interview with Williams, she confirmed the path she took from Amarillo to Lubbock would have taken her through Abernathy, Texas.
Although Richard’s children have had to deal with the tragic loss of their father, they would like for him to be remembered in a different light.
“His football team is the Patriots, and she is a Patriots fan. He would take them fishing. They would do a lot of fun things when they were together. They would come home and tell me ‘My dad took us here and go fishing,’ and he would just be around family most of the time," said Demetria Amador, mother of the victims children.
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