Jury convicts 62-year-old Pensacola man of murdering his roommate over an eviction battle

A jury convicted a 62-year-old man Thursday of murdering his 65-year-old roommate over an eviction battle in 2022.

The jury convicted James Edward Hicks for the second-degree murder of Terri Jo Williams. He strangled her and left her body in a shallow decorative water feature at her Aqua Vista Drive home.

Although Hicks claimed he found Williams dead at the house in the water fixture, a medical examiner discovered Williams had broken ribs but did not have water in her lungs and nostrils. Dr. Deanna Oleske determined Williams' died of asphyxia and the manner of death was homicide.

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"Over the course of the investigation, the evidence led to James Edward Hicks as the person who took the life of Terri Williams," court records say.

Court records indicate that Williams rented the home and sublet a room to Hicks, but the woman eventually attempted to evict Hicks from the room, which led to a confrontation. The confrontation resulted in battery charges, and Hicks reportedly killed Williams on Aug. 12, 2022, when she returned from a court hearing related to the case.

Hicks was charged with murder in October 2022 after Williams' autopsy revealed evidence of a struggle.

Hicks told law enforcement he discovered a suicide note two days after Williams' death he alleged was written by Williams, but officers said the note was "only half a page" with the bottom missing "as though it was torn off."

"Upon a review of photographs taken inside Terri's home and in her bedroom on the day Terri died, the exact same letter had been located and photographed," records say. "The photograph showed the letter as a full-page latter, attached in a spiral notebook with the bottom portion of the letter indicating the suicide note was several decades old."

During Hicks' police interview, records say he was unable to explain how a portion of the letter was ripped off and found in the laundry room two days after police photographed the same intact letter in Williams' room the day of the death.

Hicks' sentencing date has not yet been determined.