Jury delivers split verdict for Follansbee man in assault case

FOLLANSBEE -- A jury of seven men and five women delivered a split verdict, finding a Follansbee man guilty of unlawful assault but not guilty of strangulation, following a trial of about three hours on Wednesday.

Charles John Williams, 47, of Follansbee faces one to five years in prison for the felony charge of unlawful assault and would have faced incarceration for the same term and a $2,500 fine had he been found guilty of strangulation.

Pending a pre-sentence investigation, he's slated to appear at a later date for sentencing by 1st Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo, who presided over Wednesday's trial.

Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney Allison Cowden presented testimony by two sheriff's deputies who responded to the April 30, 2023, incident that led to Williams' arrest, the victim and the victim's wife, who witnessed it.

No testimony was presented by Williams' attorney, Thomas Kroger.

Christina Parnell of Monongahela, Pa., Williams' sister, testified that she and her husband, David, had gone to Williams' Hooverson Heights home on that day to help him repair his broken glasses.

She said they found windows of the home had been broken and things from inside it were laying in the yard while a neighbor told them Williams had gone to her mother's home a short distance away.

Christina Parnell said upon arriving there, her brother seemed to greet them in a casual manner.

But she said when David reminded Williams that a restraining order prohibited him from being there, he charged at David, knocking him from the doorway where he stood and onto the driveway outside.

David Parnell testified, "I was flat on my back in the driveway."

He said his head struck the pavement and he may have been unconscious part of the time, but he also recalled struggling with Williams.

"I had my hands on his, trying to restrain him," David said, adding later, "I don't feel like I was trying to retaliate. I was just trying to stop the situation."

Asked by the prosecutor about the extent of his injuries, he replied that his nose was broken, and he was bleeding from an ear and the back of his head.

"My throat was visibly bruised for a couple of days, a week maybe," said David, who testified Williams had put the weight of his arms on his neck.

The jury viewed footage from body cameras worn by two Brooke County sheriff's deputies dispatched to the scene that revealed the officers' perspectives as they approached a shirtless Williams with Parnell struggling beneath him.

One of the officers, Deputy Kaylin Ferguson, testified he'd been called first to Williams' home to investigate a disturbance reported by a neighbor, then to the home of Williams' mother.

Ferguson said he fired a Taser, a nonlethal weapon utilizing an electric charge, at Williams to immobilize him.

He said David Parnell "had blood all over his face and inside his mouth."

Caleb Minger, a Hancock County sheriff's deputy then employed as a Brooke County deputy, testified that when he arrived, he found Williams kneeling over Parnell, his hands pushing against Parnell's neck.

In her closing argument before the jury, Cowden said the incident occurred within three-and-a-half minutes, not long but sufficient to cause serious harm to the victim.

She noted Christina Parnell testified that she shouted for Williams to stop because she feared he would kill her husband, but he didn't stop.

Cowden advised the jury it could find Williams guilty of the misdemeanor charges of battery or simple assault but said the charges of strangulation and unlawful assault were appropriate because Williams intended to cause serious harm and even death to the victim.

In his closing argument, Kroger told members of the jury they must consider whether the prosecutor has demonstrated the level of physical pain and injury required of a felony charge.

"He wasn't trying to kill, maim, strangle. He was trying to fight," he said.

In his opening statement, Kroger had started to suggest Williams' actions were motivated by mental illness.

But Cowden objected, noting a psychological evaluation had found him competent to stand trial and Kroger hadn't indicated such a defense would be made, allowing her to present expert testimony in response.

The objection was sustained by Cuomo, who advised the jury to disregard Kroger's statement on that issue.