Woman killed in Lakewood home invasion was set up by roommate, records say
A home invasion robbery that left a Lakewood women dead was coordinated by someone who lived in the victim’s apartment, according to court documents.
On Monday, Arkangler Kamura Conners, 53, and Napua Nelson, 27, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Feb. 11 death of Melissa Williams.
Both women were ordered jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.
Conners lived off and on with Williams’ father in his Union Crest apartment.
Melissa Williams, 36, began staying with her father in November 2019.
All three were home the night of the shooting.
Charging papers give this account:
Police were called about 1:15 a.m. to the complex at 14900 Union Ave. SW.
Williams was found dead with a gunshot wound to the back of the head as she lay on the floor between the refrigerator and kitchen counter - her normal sleeping place.
Her father told detectives he was awakened by a masked man pointing a gun at him and ordering him to stay quiet.
He could hear someone else speaking to his daughter in the living room, saying “I told you don’t move,’” records say.
One of the robbers loaded up two backpacks of stolen items and took two laptops, as well as the father’s keys and cell phone.
Williams’ father heard a single gunshot before the two intruders fled.
He knocked on several neighbors’ doors before someone answered and allowed him to call 911.
When detectives asked if Williams knew anybody who might want to hurt her, Conners said she had “enemies” and Williams’ dad said his daughter ““was a habitual liar and thief and had a drug problem with crack cocaine and heroin,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
From the beginning, Conners’ story about what happened made police suspicious.
She claimed she left the apartment to meet a friend, then hopped in the shower when she returned him.
While in the bathroom, she heard a “bump” and went to check on Williams’ father before getting back in the shower.
Conners said she had music on and heard no other sounds, including voices or a gunshot.
When she emerged from the bathroom, she said Williams’ father told her Williams was bleeding but didn’t mention the robbery.
Conners told detectives Williams was rocking back and forth on the floor, something medical examiners later said would not have been physically possible.
During the investigation, police used surveillance footage and other methods to prove Conners was lying about her timeline on the night of the shooting.
Video surveillance also helped detectives identify Nelson as another suspect.
Cell phone records show Nelson called Conners about 12:45 a.m., just before two people get out of a vehicle and walk into the apartment complex.
They were inside less than 10 minutes, then were spotted running back to their vehicle.
Police were called to the scene shortly afterward to investigate the homicide.
