CLEVELAND — A Warrensville Heights man accused of fatally shooting his fiancee is on trial for murder. Tuesday, a jury began hearing arguments and the prosecution’s witnesses in the case against Tirrell Edwards.
Edwards is charged with two counts of murder, one count of aggravated murder, two counts of felonious assault and one count of domestic violence for the death of Amanda Williams.
“This trial will be about whether he uses self-defense legitimately or whether he planned this out,” prosecuting attorney Kevin Filiatruat told jurors during opening arguments.
Defense attorney Andy Petropouleas said, “There’s nothing mistakable about this. This man, from the moment he shot, did not want to be stabbed with that knife.”
Warrensville Heights Police responded to Williams’ house late in the evening of October 9, 2023 for a reported domestic incident. Officers found the 46-year-old unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds. They detained Edwards for questioning and he was later released when the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office found insufficient evidence to charge him with a crime.
After several weeks of outcry from family, friends and community members, a grand jury indicted Edwards on charges in early November. He turned himself in to authorities the following day.
Tuesday, prosecutors presented witness testimony from responding officers and Williams’ adult daughter, Tyler Williams. The 29-year-old and her daughter lived with her mother and Edwards in Warrensville Heights.
The younger Williams was home during the shooting and said she could hear her mother and Edwards arguing in their bedroom after her mother returned home from a work trip to Columbus.
“I get out of my bed to make my way up the stairs and then I hear the shots go off,” Tyler Williams said.
She said Edwards blocked her from entering the bedroom and told her to call for an ambulance. When she went outside to see if EMS had arrived, she said Edwards locked the door to keep her outside.
“I was not able to help my mom, hold her, nothing… because he wouldn’t let me,” she said tearfully.
In their opening arguments, attorneys both agreed the couple had been arguing throughout the day. Williams’ daughter testified she heard her mother tell Edwards to leave the house several times. The defense claims Williams pulled out a knife and was threatening her fiancé when Edwards fired six shots.
The courtroom heard the moments prior to the shooting in a cell phone video taken by Edwards himself. The couple can be heard arguing as the phone moves around, the camera obstructed. Edwards later told police Williams stabbed the phone screen with the knife.
Responding officers gave their accounts of what happened on Oct. 9, and prosecutors played footage from several body-worn and cruiser cameras.
In one video, Edwards could be heard talking unprompted to an officer from the back of his cruiser. He told the patrolman Williams was fighting him and said, “I just threw my life away.”
He also mentioned grabbing the gun he used in the shooting from beneath the mattress in the bedroom after having put other guns he owned in his vehicle earlier in the day.
The evidence displayed Tuesday also included 911 calls made by Williams’ daughter and photos of the scene and Edwards after he was detained. Officers testified Edwards had a tear in his shirts where he said Williams tried to stab him. He also had a light scratch on his neck, but was otherwise uninjured.
Prosecutors will continue calling witnesses when the trial resumes on Wednesday morning. Defense attorneys said they expect the trial to wrap up by the end of the week.
