Accused in 2005 murder to make court appearance

Quadruple murder suspect Wesley Jonathan Williams is scheduled for a court appearance in Jackson County Tuesday. The pre-trial status conference is set for 9 a.m.
Williams is accused of killing former girlfriend Danielle Baker in March 2005, along with their two young sons and Baker’s infant son with another man.
Baker was shot and the children were suffocated. The victims were found in Baker’s dwelling at the Old Cottondale Village Apartments complex in Marianna.
Baker’s body was found on the floor near the kitchen of the apartment. The boys were found in a bathtub, bound with duct tape.
Baker’s only daughter was found unharmed inside the apartment with her slain mother and siblings.
Defense attorney Walter Smith said Monday a court date might be set at Tuesday’s proceeding. Smith predicted the trial could start in March or April.
Smith anticipates asking prosecutors to estimate when they expect results from some DNA tests that are being done at the FBI lab in Washington, D.C.
Some hair samples from Williams were gathered in late November or early December, Smith said.
He thinks the state might be testing those hairs against a hair found on a strip of duct tape that was “wrapped up on one of the children,” he said.
Smith also said the state could be extracting mitochondrial DNA from the newly gathered hair samples, to compare against the results of special DNA tests that were conducted in the multiple-murder investigation.
Williams is currently serving a five-year term for an unrelated felony battery in a nearby prison. He has been transported to the Jackson County jail to await Tuesday’s court appearance.