The prosecutor showed a knife in a glass box to jurors Oct. 3 as the murder trial opened for a driver accused of committing a road rage homicide against a National City driver.
Deputy District Attorney Carder Chan held the box and counted down seven stab wounds that killed Horace Vernon Williams, 36, a father of five who lived in National City on Nov. 27, 2018. He said two of the wounds pierced Williams’ heart.
Attorney Brian Watkins, who represents Rickey Vernon Smith, 60, told the seven man, five woman jury “there is so much more to this story” than what the prosecutor told them.
Smith’s trial will last several weeks in Chula Vista Superior Court with Judge Garry Haehnle presiding. Smith, who is from the Jamacha Lomita area, has pleaded not guilty.
Both drivers were annoyed with each other in an incident that began a little after 8:40 a.m. while Williams was driving a silver Nissan Quest minivan and Smith was driving a white Ford Ranger in National City. Williams apparently threw a soft drink and food wrapper at Smith’s vehicle.
They ended up on the Willow Street Bridge which is north of Bonita Road and south of Sweetwater Road in Chula Vista that is near a golf course. Smith’s truck bumped into Williams’ vehicle which was behind him.
Attorneys said Smith got out of his truck and had an altercation with Williams, who remained seated in his minivan, until he got out and collapsed on the road while bleeding heavily.
Chan said Smith illegally passed cars and ran a red light before cutting off Williams, who responded by throwing a fountain drink at Smith. After Smith bumped Williams car, he got out and punched Williams in the face.
“He pulled out this knife,” said Chan, saying it had a 4-inch steel blade. “He drove this knife into Mr. Williams again and again…seven times…It was so deep, it completely penetrated his heart, killing him.”
“The defendant just walked away as if nothing happened,” said Chan, who said Williams bled to death.
Watkins told jurors “we’ll never know” what Williams was thinking or doing during the traffic altercations, but he added that “Horace Williams created this situation. He controlled this situation.”
“Rickey called 911 to save his life,” said Watkins.
Watkins claimed that Williams displayed an obscene gesture to Smith repeatedly during the traffic dispute.
“Mr. Smith will tell you exactly what happened,” said Watkins.
“When you understand it from Rickey Smith’s perspective, and judge it from Rickey Smith’s perception, you’ll know this isn’t any sort of cold blooded murder,” said Watkins.
The first witness was Rosa Slim, a 911 call dispatcher for Chula Vista Police. Chan played a 911 call from Williams that only lasted 21 seconds. Williams made the call after he was stabbed, but he didn’t say anything. She said she didn’t remember the call, but her voice was heard asking what was the person calling about.
Chula Vista Police detective Scott Hall testified the two cars were stopped on the Willow Street Bridge which was still undergoing construction at the time. He identified photographs which showed Williams’ blood stains on the road as he was getting out of the minivan and the McDonalds soft drink cup that was thrown at Smith’s vehicle.
Smith remains in jail on $2 million bail. Williams is survived by his fiancee, Sasha Martinez, five daughters, his parents, and brothers.
