NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Mystery at heart of case: Why did man murder his sister, cousins?

Washington Post
20 Aug, 2017 06:57 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

US man, Antonio Williams, confesses to murdering his sister and two cousins. Source: NBC News

By Lynh Bui, Justin Jouvenal

Antonio Williams was supposed to be caring for his 6-year-old sister and two young cousins as his mother worked an overnight shift as a nurse. Instead he methodically killed each girl as they lay in a single bed in a Maryland home, Prince George's County police said.

The mother, Andrena Kelley, returned to the Clinton residence early Friday morning to find the gruesome scene: the bodies of her daughter, Nadira Janae' Withers, 6; and visiting cousins, Ariana Elizabeth DeCree, 9; and Ajayah Royale DeCree, 6, brutally stabbed in a basement bedroom.

Williams, 25, made no attempt to flee, later confessing what he had done, police said at a Saturday news conference offering details about the crime. But as of Saturday (local time), police said there was still a mystery at the heart of the case: What prompted Williams, who marked his birthday on Saturday, to carry out such horrific slayings?

Investigators said they were still probing for a motive.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Williams spared the life of his 2-year-old sister, who was found unharmed in the home, police said.

The killings shook even hardened officers and first responders, Assistant Prince George's County Police Chief Hector Velez said at a Saturday news conference. Counsellors were made available to them.

"Incidents like these are not easy to handle," Velez said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"As parents, aunts, uncles and siblings of young children, it hurts us as well. Our initial thought is to want to hug our children, but we know we have to put those feelings aside and remain steadfast in finding who the killer is and telling the story that these three children cannot tell."

That story began shortly around 7:30 a.m. Friday (local time), when Kelley returned to the gray single-family home in a quiet neighbourhood. She called 911 to report finding the girls unresponsive.

Police officers soon arrived, and the girls were declared dead at 7:46 a.m. (local time), police said.

Investigators are still trying to determine when exactly the stabbings took place, and autopsies are being performed on the bodies.

"All three girls were found lying in a single bed suffering from puncture wounds and lacerations," said Prince George's County Police Capt. Anthony Schartner at the news conference. He added later: "Mr. Williams was the only adult at the time in the home."

Police said the DeCree sisters were visiting for the summer from Newark. Their mother and Nadira's mother are first cousins.

Police said they had not had contact with Williams before the incident and had never been called to the address in the 6400 block of Brooke Jane Drive, where the girls were found dead. Williams has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and other related charges.

Relatives of the girls declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.

A woman who answered a call to a number connected to Withers's father said they were not ready to speak about the loss of the children.

"Right now, we're very distraught," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On Saturday, a note addressed to the media sat outside the door of an address associated with the Withers family, asking for time to grieve.

"Our hearts are extremely heavy during this time," read the note signed "The Withers Family."

An online wedding page showed Nadira Withers had served as a flower girl at her father's wedding last summer. In a photo, she's smiling, her hair styled in a bob, and her hand resting across her heart.

The mother of the DeCree girls did not respond to a request for comment, but a video message that appeared to be from her was posted on the woman's Facebook page on Saturday.

"Hug you all's loved ones tonight," the woman said in the video. "Hold the people you hold close tonight because I never thought I would really say this and mean this. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. It's not guaranteed for you. It's not guaranteed for me, so if we leave with a message of just love who you love. Let go of those . . . family grudges. Let go of those friend grudges. Just let go . . . because your family may not be here tomorrow."

On Saturday, red crime scene tape still wrapped around the carport of the brick home where the girls were killed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Pink Barbie curtains draped a window inside the home, which remained sealed under police custody.

The shock of the crimes continued to rattle the community.

Camri Thomas, 23, arrived at the home on Saturday afternoon (local time) to drop off flowers at the growing memorial of pink and yellow bouquets at the family's mailbox.

Thomas said that she didn't know the family but that Clinton is a tightknit community horrified at the violence that cut short the lives of three promising little girls.

"For three young girls to be murdered like that is heartbreaking," Thomas said. "We have been thinking about it all day. We haven't been sleeping."

Next-door neighbours Marjorie and Middleton Russell remained in shock Saturday morning.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"What can you say?" Marjorie Russell said. "They were here and happy and going and the next thing there's tragedy."

Marjorie Russell said the children came out every morning to play and enjoyed being outside wading in the swimming pool or bouncing on a trampoline. The family had moved in only this summer, she said.

"They were loud, but they were loud because they were happy," Marjorie Russell said.

As the community continued to understand the violence, a question continued to hang.

"I just want to know." Marjorie Russell said, "Why?"

Keith Alexander and Peter Hermann contributed to this report.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Ukraine says Russia launched largest drone, missile attack of war

09 Jul 07:42 AM
Premium
World

Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot shares anti-Semitic posts on X

09 Jul 07:19 AM
World

Study: Climate change made European heatwave up to 4C hotter

09 Jul 05:07 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Ukraine says Russia launched largest drone, missile attack of war

Ukraine says Russia launched largest drone, missile attack of war

09 Jul 07:42 AM

The latest strike beat a previous Russian record of 550 drones and missiles.

Premium
Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot shares anti-Semitic posts on X

Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot shares anti-Semitic posts on X

09 Jul 07:19 AM
 Study: Climate change made European heatwave up to 4C hotter

Study: Climate change made European heatwave up to 4C hotter

09 Jul 05:07 AM
Teen attack at Brazil school kills child, injures two more

Teen attack at Brazil school kills child, injures two more

09 Jul 03:43 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP