Former soldier who starved boy to death in ‘dungeon’ may get death penalty

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Connell C. Williams, who along with his girlfriend, Candice C. Holloway, allegedly starved Candice's 10-year-old son to death. Photo via Prosecutors Office

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a former Fort Sill soldier who has been accused of starving his girlfriend’s ten-year-old son to death in a room the boy’s sister described as a dungeon.

This is an extremely rare move for the federal government.  In the past 85 years, the only two men that were executed for federal crimes in Oklahoma were Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and notorious kidnapper Arthur Gooch.

Federal prosecutors said that they would seek the death penalty for 32-year-old Connell C. Williams, who prosecutors say has a history of stalking girlfriends and abusing other children.

The victim’s mother, Candice  C. Holloway, 31, pleaded guilty back April to first-degree murder and has agreed to testify against Williams during his trial which is set for February.  Holloway has agreed to serve 30 years for her involvement in her son’s murder, but will not be sentenced until after William’s trial.

In her written guilty plea, Holloway stated, “From January 2011 until May 5, 2011, I knowingly deprived my son of sufficient food for extended periods of time.”

The couple allegedly starved Marcus Holloway because he was eating too many sweets.

Williams, a former private, is accused of withholding food from the boy who lost half his body weight before his death on May 5, 2011 of severe malnutrition.  He weighed only 44 pounds when he died, which is 26 pounds less than the average healthy boy his same age.

Marcus was kept in a room his sister described as a “dungeon” and occasionally fed only rice cakes with water for nearly half a year.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, during Williams’s detention hearing in September, a physician said the boy’s malnourishment was “consistent with that of concentration camp photos.”

The Department of Human Services added:

“Ms. Holloway reported Marcus was fed rice cakes, cereal bars and given water to drink on most days.

Ms. Holloway admitted she and Mr. Williams would hit Marcus on the buttocks, legs and head with a belt, plastic bat or drumsticks when he was disrespectful or would steal food.

Ms. Holloway reported the night before Marcus died, Mr. Williams poured ice water over him as a form of punishment.

She reported all she could recall Marcus eating the day before he died was a marshmallow pie.”

Prosecutors said that the boy’s younger sister has been affected by “the fact that she was forced to… participate in the abuse of her brother.”

Sources:  the Daily Mail, NewsOK