Murder on Facebook: Rannita Williams was tormented and killed by her boyfriend who lived-streamed the murder on social media. Do you agree with his 137-year sentence?
Rannita Williams, a 27-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana resident, was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend while on Facebook Live on April 12, 2018.
The video begins with the suspected shooter, 36-year-old Johnathan Robinson pacing back and forth as Rannita speaks to the camera saying, “Hey y’all, this is NuNu… I didn’t have any business doing all that. My page been blocked.”
As the video continues, you can hear Robinson yelling, “You think I’m worried about the police right now?” he continues, “You wanna be famous? I’m gonna make you famous. Everybody wanna be famous, let’s be famous today.”
Six shots are heard and Rannita begins to beg Johnathan to stop, the phone then falls onto the floor and three additional shots are heard and shortly after the gunman states, “Now, bitch. Gave over.”
Johnathan Robinson Police Interrogation
He was heard muttering: “Everybody wanna be famous, let’s be famous today.” Rannita was still filming when Johnathan let off six shots and she was seen collapsing to the ground.
She was terrified and could be heard screaming “stop Johnathan” as he opened fire on her and the phone crashed to the ground.
At the end of the video, a shadow of the rifle could be seen in view of the camera as Robinson stood over the victim.
Killed On Facebook Live: The Rannita Williams Murder
Police rushed in after he shot Ranita.
Officers exchanged gunfire with Johnathan for nearly 90 minutes before they could arrest him.
Rannita was rushed to the hospital, but she died of her gunshot wounds. Her family said that she previously dated Johnathan off and on for years, but they broke it off permanently about two years before the shooting happened.
Johnathan was taken to Caddo Correctional Center and booked on one count of second-degree murder, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of simple criminal damage to property, and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Three hours after the shooting, at 1:58 p.m., SPD investigators learned Johnathan planned the attack during a 37-minute interview. Below is that conversation.
Within the first two minutes, Johnathan was told he would be charged with second-degree murder. Moments later he said, “I think I need to be charged with first-degree [murder].”
When asked why, Johnathan said: “because I planned it, I knew what I was fixing to do.”
In the next few minutes, Johnathan told investigators what happened when he stormed into the home on Natalie Street. When asked what happened, Johnathan said: “I told her to go ‘live’ and apologize to her.” The investigator replied, “apologize to who?” Johnathan said, “my girl.”
“Then what happened?” asked the officer. “The police arrived and I started shooting. I shot her in the leg, I shot her in the leg. Then I shot her again somewhere else.”
Johnathan then talked about seeing the police arrive saying, “When I opened the door, I saw a red truck and police and I just started shooting.”
“What happened after that? After you shot at police, what happened after that?” asked the investigator. “I think I shot her,” replied Johnathan.
“Where did you shoot her at?”
“I know in the leg and I don’t know where I never really saw where I shot her, I just know I shot her and I saw blood,” Johnathan said.
“Did she say anything after that?”
“She didn’t say anything.”
“Why were you shooting at the police?”
“I wanted to die.”
There’s a long pause as Johnathan, at times, is emotional throughout the first 14 minutes of the interview.
“Why’d you give up? Why did you come outside?” asked the investigator.
“I had no bullets and Shuricka told me to,” Johnathan said.
Johnathan then talked about his past relationship with Ranita, but that, at the time of her death, Johnathan was dating Shuricka Taylor, of Houston, Texas.
Ranita Williams | Source: Facebook
“When you walked into the house what did you think was going to happen?” asked the investigator. “I was going to kill her,” said Johnathan referring to Rannita.
The investigator then asked at what point did Johnathan decide or plan that this was how he was going to handle it. “This morning. When I woke up,” Johnathan said.
When asked where he got the gun, Johnathan said that morning he went to his aunt’s house and got it. He said he bought off the street and hid the gun under his aunt’s house. Johnathan also said went to a pawn shop and bought 40 bullets, 20 per box.
“Why did you buy 2 boxes?” asked the investigator. “Because I wanted to have a shootout with the police,” said Johnathan.
Listen to the interviews of the first SPD officer on the scene and the officer who was wounded.
The investigator again sets the timeline of events asking Johnathan what happened when he woke up that morning and where did he go first. Johnathan said he went to a Shreveport casino. When asked what he did while he was there, Johnathan said “I gambled a little bit trying to clear my mind.”
Johnathan said when he left the casino he got the bullets and the gun. He said he then went straight to the house. Over the next few minutes, Johnathan talked about why he returned to Shreveport from Houston, Texas the Friday before Rannita Williams’s death.
Twenty-five minutes into the interview Johnathan seems to have shored up his emotions and continued to detail the days leading up to April 12, 2018.
The discussion then turned towards the purchase of the bullets, what kind Johnathan asked for, and the gunfire directed at police.
When asked to describe the police, Johnathan seemed to struggle to remember some details. At 33 minutes in, he stated “I’m in my right mind. It’s just some stuff I can remember.” Johnathan then said he thought police would eventually come into the house and shoot him.
“Why would they have shot you?” asked the investigator. “Because I would have been shooting at them,” replied Johnathan.
The investigator then asked if there was anything Johnathan wanted to add to his statement before stopping the recording.
“I think I need to be charged with first-degree,” Johnathan said.
“Do you know the difference between second and first?” asked the investigator.
“Yes, I do. I knew what I was doing. I premeditated that. I planned that.” Johnathan said.
Ranita Williams and her children. | Source: Facebook
“Elaborate on that,” asked the investigator.
“I knew what I was doing. I was in my right mind. I knew I was going to kill her.” Johnathan said.
“So you think you needed to be charged with first?” asked the investigator.
“Yeah. I knew what I was doing. I ain’t dumb. I ain’t dumb by far.” replied Johnathan.
“Anything else you want to add?”
“That’s it,” said Johnathan.
After his sentencing was over and he was about to be led from the courtroom by bailiffs, Johnathan asked to speak to Rannita’s mother.
“I’m so sorry I did what I did,” he told Anita Williams, fighting back tears. Anita, who earlier had received an apology letter written from jail by Johnathan, told him she accepted his apology and had forgiven him.
“I know I hurt a lot of people, myself,” Johnathan said. “I hope one day you forgive me for what I did.”
“I forgave you already,” said the sobbing mother.
Johnathan apologized to her a second time, and Anita told him, “I accept your apology.”
Before he was escorted from the courtroom, Johnathan added, “I’m sorry for the polices, too.”
One officer was hit in the wrist by a bullet fired by Johnathan while he was inside of Rannita’s home.
More than a dozen bailiffs were in the courtroom in case of an outburst by Johnathan, who was shackled hands and feet.
The attorneys who represented Johnathan on behalf of Baton Rouge Capital Conflict said the plea agreement had been an ongoing process.
“Johnathan said everything that needed to be said,” one attorney said.
His other attorney said they were glad to see a “resolution for all families involved.”
Outside of the courthouse, Anita admitted discussions of a plea deal had been ongoing for months but she did not tell anyone. Had Johnathan been prosecuted for first-degree murder he would have faced a possible death sentence. She said that’s not something she wanted.
“I didn’t believe in killing nobody. I never believed in killing nobody. Not just him, nobody. Not even an enemy. So why, why?” she said. “I’m glad justice has been served. Everything is gone. Everything’s OK. So I feel a lot better now. Now I can rest. Now I and my family can go on with our lives, you know. It’s over with, it’s no more. So there’s nothing else to talk, the decision done been made between us and everybody else so we feel a lot better.”
She also said Johnathan had reached out to at least three times, but she also didn’t disclose that to anyone.
“I forgive him. I forgive him. But I never will forget,” she said.
Johnathan’s demeanor in the courtroom was similar to his other court hearings. From the outset of the case, Johnathan had expressed great remorse for what he did and had tried to plead guilty. Until the day of sentencing, prosecutors wouldn’t agree because they had filed a notice to seek a death sentence. A defendant cannot plead guilty to the death penalty.
In one of the previous court hearings, Johnathan told Judge Emanuel to let him plead guilty and “get all this over with.”
In another, he cried as a detective recounted the crime; when members of Rannita’s family began to cry and started walking out of the courtroom, Johnathan tried to overturn the defense table, toppling backward to the floor and taking the chair with him. Bailiffs calmed him down before picking him up, putting him back in the chair and allowing the hearing to resume.
Johnathan took a plea deal. The plea agreement means he cannot be sentenced to death and must be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors said Johnathan will also get a concurrent 100-year sentence for shooting at police during an 80-minute standoff with eight officers.
