ANN ARBOR, MI – A father set to stand trial for the murder of his infant daughter who disappeared in the summer of 1982 is seeking to fire his attorney and represent himself in court.
The case against Isiah Williams was adjourned Wednesday, May 31, shortly after a bench conference with Washtenaw County Trial Judge Patrick Conlin Jr., during which attorneys agreed to postpone proceedings pending the filing of several motions.
While all parties involved in the case were present in the courtroom, Williams was attending via Zoom from his jail cell, where he was heard yelling that he wanted to fire his attorney, Danien Woodson, and represent himself.
The case has been adjourned until Aug. 16.
Williams, 75, was bound over for trial, May 2, on one count of open murder after a preliminary examination before Washtenaw County 14A District Judge Cedric Simpson, who found there was more than enough evidence for a jury to consider the case.
Related: An infant who disappeared in 1982 is presumed dead. Now her father heads to trial for murder
He was arraigned for murder Jan. 21, 2022, after being extradited from Chicago to face allegations he killed his infant daughter, Olisa Williams, who has been missing since July 1982 and presumed dead.
Investigators argued during his preliminary examination the child was killed by Williams as an act of control over the child’s mother, Denise Frazier-Daniel, who suffered years of domestic abuse at the hands of Williams while they were married and living in Ohio.
One former girlfriend testified she was attacked by Williams who hit her with a two-by-four as she tried to run away from him. On another occasion he injured a 2-year-old girl in his care, breaking several of her bones for crying and did not seek medical care for her, witnesses said.
Olisa Williams was born in Ann Arbor while Williams was in prison. He is not believed to be her biological father, officials said. Williams was angry about Olisa’s birth, telling Frazier-Daniel she should have had an abortion.
Related: Ann Arbor mom agonizes over baby’s disappearance 35 years later
Retired Ann Arbor Police Detective Dan Iverson, who took over investigating the cold case, testified he interviewed Williams on multiple occasions as well as other witnesses before finding enough probable cause to hand the case over to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, which declined the issues charges.
The case was then sent to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, which issued charges as it tends to handle cold cases more frequently since the state has more staff and better resources to pursue such cases, AG Dana Nessel said.
Witnesses testified Williams took his daughter by force from his then wife Frazier-Daniel on April 29, 1982, after she said she was filing for divorce. The girl was last seen in July by another witness before the child disappeared with no explanation.
Later in July of 1982, Williams boarded a bus to Alabama with no luggage, no child and no explanation as to where the child was, prosecutors said.
Police continued to investigate the girl’s disappearance, but she was never found.
In 1994, Williams was in a car crash that he claimed made him lose his memory of the 1980s, Iverson said. Iverson pulled his medical records and found several CT scans were performed on Williams with no abnormalities found, leading Iverson to believe Williams was lying about not knowing the child’s whereabouts.
Another ex-girlfriend testified that, while be strangled by Williams in an act of domestic violence, he confessed to killing a baby and hiding the body.
Williams remains detained in the Washtenaw County Jail without bond.
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