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Man charged in Halloween murder of Brandon woman

 
Published Nov. 25, 2015

BRANDON — The man named as an early suspect in the Halloween night murder of a Brandon mother outside her home was arrested late Tuesday.

Darryl Eugene Williams, 49, of Brandon is facing a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm.

Tiffany C. James, 35, was coming home from a party around 11 p.m. on Halloween when Williams, the father of their twin daughters, approached her, authorities said. She made it as far as the front entrance of a neighboring apartment.

According to officials, Williams didn't say a word before shooting James twice in the chest. Their 7-year-old daughters watched.

Williams ran away, authorities said, and James later died at Tampa General Hospital.

Detectives put out a warrant for Williams' arrest. On Tuesday evening, deputies arrested Williams at his workplace in Riverview. He will be held without bail.

Williams and James had lived together in the past, deputies said, and had a rocky history. In August, Williams filed for a domestic violence injunction against James, but a judge denied it because Williams couldn't provide enough evidence that he needed protection, records show.

In 2007, James was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon related to a domestic violence incident.

Williams was charged with several felonies in the late 1980s and early 1990s and he pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated battery, conspiracy to commit racketeering and attempted robbery with a firearm.