Nearly six years after two women were found slashed and brutally murdered inside a luxury condominium complex in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, the man responsible has been found guilty. Franklyn Delanoy Williams, 51, was convicted by a jury on Friday of two counts of second-degree murder in the May 7, 2019 killings of his girlfriend, 35-year-old Sophia Simpson, and her cousin, 27-year-old Gabrella Griffith. The verdict marks the conclusion of a lengthy legal process following the tragic deaths.
Franklyn Delanoy Williams, 51, was convicted by jurors Friday of two counts of second-degree murder in the May 7, 2019 killings of his girlfriend, 35-year-old Sophia Simpson, and her cousin, 27-year-old Gabrella Griffith.
During the trial Williams took the stand and admitted to killing the two women, but claimed he did so in self-defense.
“She grabbed the knife and I was sitting on the bed,” Williams said on the stand Thursday. “She came and stabbed me. I held up my hands and I had gotten cut.”
But prosecutors rejected the self-defense claim, noting that Simpson was found with more than 50 wounds while her cousin was found with 10 wounds.
“He attacks her with the knife and stabs her 50 times, ladies and gentlemen, predominately in the back. The back, the back of the head, the neck,” prosecutor Lindsay Davis said during closing arguments. “And she has defense wounds on her hand, in trying to shield and protect herself.”
Jurors began deliberations Friday afternoon and quickly delivered their verdict after about two hours of deliberations.
Williams now faces up to life in prison.
