Defendant’s, victims’ families crowd Williams hearing

Kim Smith

Friday, April 28, 2000 | 12:18 p.m.

When Noelle Files first heard about the accident involving her stepsister, Jessica Williams, her reaction was immediate.

"I wished it was me," Files sobbed Thursday afternoon. "I didn't think she could handle it. She's just so sweet. She's such a gentle person."

Files was one of about 50 people who attended a hearing Thursday in the hopes of persuading District Judge Mark Gibbons to reduce William's $5 million bond.

Williams, 21, is charged with multiple counts of driving under the influence in connection with a March 19 accident that took the lives of six teenagers picking up trash along Interstate 15.

Many of the victims' family members and friends were at the hearing, too. They wanted to oppose the bond reduction. The hearing was postponed until Tuesday.

Prosecutors contend Williams fell asleep at the wheel because she had been smoking marijuana. Her attorney believes she just fell asleep.

Files, 23, said many of those at the hearing flew in from California and Texas because they wanted to show Williams their support, but also to impress upon the prosecutors that Williams is not what they have portrayed her to be.

Prosecutors have alleged Williams leads a transient lifestyle. They've focused on her drug usage and job as a topless dancer when arguing for a high bond amount.

But, Files said, that's not the real Jessica.

"Jessica is so loving. She has this big compassionate heart and she's a sweet, gentle person," Files said. "She's always lending an ear to listen to people and she would never hurt anybody, never."

Files said she and Williams became such close friends several years ago that she moved in with Williams, her mother, Rosa, and Williams' five siblings.

Her father, Michael Abbate, hit it off so well with Rosa that the two married and the two families combined, Files said. She has two brothers.

Although her parents recently moved to Dallas from California, most of the rest of the family lives in Arizona and California, Files said.

What the prosecutors are saying about Williams is "horrible," Files said.

"They don't know her. They're only focusing on the things that are recent, things surrounding this incident."

And while they may support Williams, Files said her family wants the families of the teenagers to know they feel bad for them and they don't condone Williams' actions before the accident.

"Jessica comes from a very loving, Christian family and we care very much about the other families, we're very much concerned about them," Files said, pulling a Bible out from her purse.

Files said Williams has been spending the last month meeting with a pastor and reading her Bible.

"She is very, very much in the here and now about this. She understands completely the magnitude of what's happened," Files said.

Files' sympathy for the families of the victims did not go over well with at least one victim's mother.

JoJo Burke, the mother of Malina Stoltzfus, 15, said she has lost 30 pounds since the accident.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Burke said following the hearing. "Those people walking into that courtroom and justifying what she's done? It just makes me sick."

The pink ribbon worn by Williams' supporters was a "slap in the face" to the families of those who lost children, Burke said.

"It's like they support what she's done, but she did drugs," Burke said. "My daughter was doing community service for missing her curfew."

Thursday's hearing was the worst day she's had since the accident, Burke said.

"I can't work," Burke said. "I just can't concentrate."

Burke said she intends to attend every court hearing. She also plans to bring more of her daughter's friends to next week's bond hearing. She wants to make sure there are more people representing the victims in the courtroom than those representing Williams.

"She has no right to be out on the street," Burke said. "My daughter is dead because of her and she wants to be out with her family. My daughter can't be with her family ever again."

While she's not attending counseling, Burke said she is getting some help. She and the families of the other victims, Scott Garner Jr., 14, Alberto Puig, 16, Anthony Smith, 14, Rebeccah D. Glicken, 15, and Jennifer Booth, 16, often meet for lunch.

They, Burke said, are the only ones who can understand what she's going through.

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com