A judge ruled Thursday that a Willits man may receive mental health treatment rather than serve time in prison in connection with a 2022 assault on a sheriff’s deputy and the killing of a relative’s dogs.
Judge Victoria Shanahan found Trevor Williams is eligible for mental health diversion following a hearing in Mendocino County Superior Court in Ukiah, where he has been charged in two cases that occurred weeks apart.
In the first one, Williams is accused of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon, along with negligence and resisting arrest. In the second incident he is charged with three counts of animal cruelty.
Shanahan explained that court officials heard from victims and determined Williams’ actions in 2022 were “serious and egregious and put fear in some individuals.”
“It’s clear, Mr. Williams, you impacted the people, who spoke to the court, greatly,” Shanahan told him Thursday.
Trials had been scheduled for both cases leading up to April 4, when Williams’ attorney with the Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office filed a motion asking that his client be granted a mental health diversion rather than prison time.
It states Williams suffers from anxiety, depression, alcohol-use disorder and paranoid personality disorder. Williams, the motion adds, was receiving chemotherapy for cancer in 2022 around the time of the alleged assault and the dog killings.
“The evidence makes it abundantly clear that Mr. Williams’ condition was a significant factor in, and substantially contributed to, his commission of the offenses,” his attorney, FredRicco McCurry, wrote in the motion.
Shanahan’s approval means the charges against Williams could be dropped in two years if he meets conditions presented in court. They include attending a behavioral health course, staying away from the victims and being subjected to searches and seizures.
Thursday’s hearing concluded with the judge asking Williams if he accepts the terms, to which he replied, “Yes, your honor.”
According to the diversion motion, the assault happened July 26, 2022, after area residents reported Williams was firing a gun on his property in Willits.
Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies approached Williams while he was armed with a rifle. He walked away then returned with two pistols in his waistband, but without the rifle.
“Deputies attempted to remove the pistols and Williams resisted when one of the deputies attempted to grab his hand,” his defense attorney wrote in the motion.
Deputies wound up arresting him at gunpoint.
A month later, on Aug. 25, Williams was arrested again, this time on suspicion of killing dogs on his sister’s property in Dos Rios, an unincorporated community 51 miles north of Ukiah.
According to a criminal complaint, Williams shot a female puppy and two adult dogs. One of them was pregnant.
Following the shooting, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported, his sister returned from a trip and found that the dogs had been shot and dragged across the property.
Investigators believe Williams shot the dogs while they were in a kennel in the backyard.
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi
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