Williams pleads not guilty to murder charge

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Mason City man charged with the murder of a Charles City man has pleaded not guilty and asked for a speedy trial.

Floyd County District Court Judge DeDra Schroeder said Monday that the attorney for Antoine Tyree Williams filed a written plea about 7:30 a.m., before an arraignment hearing had been scheduled to take place that morning.

Williams’ attorney is listed as Steven Kloberdanz of the Mason City Public Defender’s Office.

According to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in Floyd County District Court, Williams, 36, shot Nathaniel Fleming, 36, “multiple times with a firearm during an argument, resulting in the victim’s death.”

“The defendant then pulled the victim out of a vehicle and fled the scene,” the document says.

Police say they responded to reports of shots fired about 10:46 p.m. June 30 in the 2100 block of Clarkview Drive.

An arrest warrant on a charge of first degree murder was issued for Williams, and police asked the public’s help in locating him or a vehicle he was thought to be driving.

Williams was arrested in Chicago on July 5, the same night as the vehicle was located in Waterloo. He was extradited to Iowa and is being held on $500,000 cash-only bond in the Bremer County Jail.

The case is being prosecuted by Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey with the assistance of Iowa Assistant Attorney General Coleman McAllister.

Williams is also still facing two aggravated misdemeanor charges from September 2014: third-degree theft for allegedly pawning a girlfriend’s 55-inch television without her permission, and tampering with a witness or juror for allegedly threatening to kill the victim in the case if she didn’t drop charges against him, according to court documents.