PQ: Man Accused of Killing Mom, Sister to Stand Trial

A man accused of fatally stabbing his detective mother and 18-year-old sister in their Rancho Peñasquitos home last summer waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday and agreed to stand trial on double murder charges.

Brian Rockwell Williams, 24, will be arraigned June 12, when a trial date could be set.

Last October, a judge found Williams mentally incompetent to stand trial and he was sent to a state mental hospital for treatment. Once his competency was determined to be restored, he was returned to San Diego, where criminal charges were reinstated.

Williams is charged in , a veteran San Diego police child abuse detective, and Briana Williams, who graduated from Mount Carmel High School and had planned to attend a San Francisco design college.

At Williams' arraignment, defense attorney Richard Gates told reporters that the defendant had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but was not undergoing treatment at the time of the murders.

In late June of last year, officers went to the Williams family home on a call of a disturbance involving the son, according to police.

About 1:15 a.m. on July 18, Rancho Peñasquitos residents were awakened by the sounds of a woman screaming. They looked outside to see Briana Williams struggling with her 6-foot, 300-pound brother on the balcony of their home on Paseo Montril, outside her bedroom window, prosecutor Kristen Spieler said.

At one point, Briana was seen hanging from the balcony by her hands, and eventually dropped to the pavement below, according to Spieler, who said the defendant was seen calmly walking back into the home.

Within minutes, police arrived and found the defendant in the front yard, standing a few feet from where his sister lay dying, the prosecutor said. Near her body was a bloody knife, Spieler said.

When officers made entry into the home, they found the body of Donna Williams face-down in Briana's bedroom, the prosecutor said.

Both of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

The defendant's sister suffered multiple slashes to her throat and about 20 stab wounds to the chest, according to Spieler. Her mother was stabbed at least twice in the stomach and had a severe gash to her throat, the prosecutor said.

Brian Williams faces 52 years to life in prison if convicted.

-City News Service