CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — A person of interest in the killing of a 25-year-old mother of three turned himself in to authorities Friday afternoon.
Devaughan Marquise Williams, 22, who has been identified as that person of interest in the killing of Kiara Smith by two high-level sources, turned himself into the Nueces County Jail on Friday.
Williams is on probation for attacking Smith last year, while she was pregnant with his child.
As KRIS 6 News previously reported, police found a woman dead in a home on the 1100 block of Green Earth Drive off Navigation Boulevard and Bear Lane. That woman has since been identified by family and friends as Smith.
At 3:20 a.m. Friday, Smith's roommate called police saying they heard gunshots and found the mother of three had been shot. When officers arrived, they found Smith inside the home with a gunshot wound.
KRIS 6 News has learned that this isn't Williams's first incident with Smith. According to court documents, Williams was arrested on June 6, 2023, for hitting Smith in the head when she was pregnant.
According to a probable cause statement, Smith told officers at Christus Spohn Hospital that Williams knocked her to the ground, causing her pain but she was able to get away. Moments later, Williams showed up at the hospital and was taken into custody. His bicycle was tagged and he was charged with assault of a pregnant person, which is a third-degree felony.
Williams pleaded guilty to this charge on February 26, 2024, in the 28th District Court. Judge Nanette Hasette sentenced him to six years of deferred adjudication and ordered Williams to take anger management classes and parenting classes. He was given a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for 12 months.
Friday afternoon, the Nueces County Community Supervision and Corrections Department filed a motion to revoke William's probation in that case, alleging "On or about 9/6/2024, in the County of Nueces, State of Texas, the defendant did then and there commit the offense of murder."
That's not the only violent case involving Williams, KRIS 6 has learned. Five months after assaulting Smith, he pointed a gun at and tried to choke his sister. He was arrested on Nov. 14, 2023, and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded guilty to that charge in February of this year.
A second family violence charge was dismissed and he was sentenced to six years of deferred adjudication, to run concurrently with his plea for assaulting Smith while she was pregnant.
KRIS 6 News has learned Williams is also facing a new charge.
He has been charged with deadly conduct for discharging a firearm and placed on several pre-trial bond conditions.
A notice of pretrial bond noncompliance was filed in August, alleging Williams had violated several of these conditions.
According to an online court docket, he is set to appear in court on Sept. 17 for a probation review hearing on these three cases.
