As authorities wait for a positive identification on child remains found in Alabam earlier this month, a friend of a missing Florida girl’s mother says the friend she knew wouldn’t have harmed her child.
“She’s not the same person she was in high school,” the classmate told Action News Jax. ” Like, really, to know Brianna is to love Brianna.”
Williams, a Petty Officer 1st Class at NAS Jacksonville, reported her only child, 5-year-Taylor Williams, missing on November 6. She claimed she last saw the girl while checking on her at midnight, in their new home in the Brentwood area of Jacksonville, off of Ivy Street. By the following morning, according to Williams, Taylor had disappeared and the backdoor was unlocked.
Williams initially cooperated with investigators. Authorities said she stopped cooperating when they informed her that her story didn’t add up.
“Yesterday we were talking to her about some inconsistencies in her statement and that’s when she chose to stop cooperating with us,” Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said during a press conference earlier this month.
On November 12, authorities found human remains in Demopolis, Alabama, nears Williams’ hometown. Although the remains have not been officially identified, Jacksonville authorities said in a press conference last week that they believe the remains are of Taylor Williams.
Williams, possibly after hearing news that a child’s remains had been found, overdosed in an apparent suicide attempt while staying on base at NAS Jacksonville. Authorities were en route to arrest Williams when she tried to take her own life. She’s facing child neglect charges, along with a charge of lying to police.
“At first, I was like, there’s no way in the world that all of this, like, she … could do this stuff,” the classmate told Action News Jax. “But then as the story went to progressing, certain stuff didn’t make sense, half of the story didn’t make sense.”
An arrest affidavit indicated a neighbor spotted Taylor wandering home alone several times in April, at the Southside Villas complex in Jacksonville. Taylor leased an apartment in the complex until the end of October, when she moved to Brentwood.
The neighbor, who was home during the day and worked night shifts, said Taylor would wave to him from the sliding glass door in her apartment. She always had on the same pajamas each time, the neighbor told police, and she was apparently home alone.
The neighbor said Williams’ wouldn’t come until 8 or 9 p.m., carrying food that appeared to be for one person.
On April 17, the same neighbor spotted Taylor alone, again in the same pajamas, holding a doll while walking up and down the breezeway stairs outside of the apartment building.
“Hey sweetie, what are you doing?” the neighbor said.
“Looking for my momma,” Taylor replied.
The neighbor said he walked Taylor back to her apartment and noticed it was filthy, with boxes stacked up and bags of trash inside.
“Stuff like this right here, you just never thought that you’d even hear about this going on,” the classmate said.
Read the full affidavit below.
Taylor Williams: Brianna Wi… by Leigh Egan on Scribd
The story continues to develop. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Taylor Williams/Handout]
