West Virginia Pioneers

Okey Gay Williams

Male 1910 - 1959  (49 years)


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  • Name Okey Gay Williams 
    Born 4 Jan 1910  Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Died 20 Jul 1959  [2
    Buried Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Notes 

    • [Unidentified newspaper]
      Friday, July 24, 1959
      Butcher Knife Used to Stab Man to Death
      Okey Gay Williams, 49 year old resident of Kenna, was stabbed to death at his home there Monday night and his brother, John Monroe Williams, 49, has confessed the killing and is being held in the Jackson County jail.
      Williams used a butcher knife in the stabbing and Coroner C. Royall Kessel said that the instrument severed the eighth rib on the man's left side and penetrated the heart.
      A neighbor, suspecting that something was wrong called state police and when they arrived on the scene they found the body of Oak Williams on the rear porch of the second floor apartment building in which the two brothers lived alone.
      John Williams was not at the acene when the officers arrived but and inves_____ disclosed that after killing his brother he (had thumbed a ride) with Chubby ____ ___ (Ripley) and had surrendered himself to Jailer Ezra Randolph at the county jail.
      He gave a statement to officers later Monday night in which he said that early Monday afternoon he gave his brother Okey $2 and he came to Ripley and bought wine and after he returned they
      Kenna Man, contined from Page 1
      had started drinking.
      Late in the afternoon a quarrel developed and they started fighting. He grabbed the butcher knife off a table and they scuffled out onto the porch and he stabbed his brother.
      Harry Westfall who lives in another of hte second floor apartments , told officers tht he heard the noise and went to the back door and saw the stabbing and that he got the knife "away from John as he had it drawn" to stab the brother again.
      Coroner Kessel ordered the body removed from the scene and it was broght to the Parsons funeral home.
      Officers learned that the two brothers had been living in the apartment by themselves for about three weeks. The apartment building is owned by Mrs. Lucy Parsons.
      He was arraigned before Justice R.J. Riley on Monday night on a ____ ____ charged murder and was held for the action of the November gramd jurt. In default of bond, he was remanded back.
      Williams is survived by five sons, Clay, Guy, Donald and Earl Ray, all of Ripley, and Jack of Charleston; four daughters, Mary of Ripley, Mrs Ethel Kuhn of C--land, Alice Augusta of Charleston and Ora Harrison of Kenna; a brother, John Williams of Kenna, two sisters, Mrs. Stella Moore and Mrs. Cecil Miller, both of Charleston, and seven grandchildren.
      The funeral service will be held at the Parsons funeral home in Ripley at 10:30 Thursday morning with Rev. Herbert Anderson officiating, and the burial will be in the Stone Lick Cemetery.


      Ripley, West Virginia, Friday, Nov 15, 1959
      Murder Trial Halted When Plea is Filed
      The trial of John Monroe Williams on an indictment which charged him with the murder of his brother, Okey Williams, last July at their home in Kenna, ended suddenly Tuesday morning just before arguments in the case were to be heard.
      Williams, through his attorneys entered a plea of guilty to voluntary manslaughter and the state accepted it. It carries with it a mandatory sentence of frome one to five years in the state prison.
      The testimony had been completed on Monday and Judge Oliver D. Kessel was ready to instruct the jury when suddenly the defense attorneys, Burton Crow and Robert Davis entered the voluntary manslaugher plea and Prosecuting Attorney J.B. Heilmann (can't read ) Prosecutor Ronald Adams agreed
      At the outset of the trial Monday morning the stae waived the death penalty in the case and asked the jury to return a verdict of first degree murder with a recommendation for mercy.
      The witnesses were all heard on Monday and both the state and defense rested their cases and the jury was to be instructed Tuesday morning.
      Only one surprise witness was introduced during the trial and that was by the (can't read). She was Mrs. Amy Williams, the wife of Okey Williams who told the jury that John Williams had told her about three weeks before the killing that he was going to kill Okey unless he "stayed away from the woman" in whick both men were reportedly interested.
      The killing occurred at Kenna last July 20 when Okey Williams was stabbed in the heart with a butcher knife. John Williams got a ride into Ripley after the incident and surrendered to Deputy Sheriff Ezra Randolph at the country jail.

      From Tina:
      My grandparents were divorced. According to the family, that evening Okey went to my grandmothers house to ask her to come back she refused and he went home to drink ( apparently that is all he ever did) and him and John lived together in an apartment. John was going to go buy the lady next door some wine and it made Okey mad and that is what caused the argument.
    Person ID I47557  WVPioneers
    Last Modified 21 Jan 2009 

    Father John Wesley Williams,   b. 23 Jul 1872, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 14 Nov 1910, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 38 years) 
    Mother Laverna Elizabeth Parsons,   b. Aug 1873, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1954  (Age ~ 80 years) 
    Married 18 Jun 1893  Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 

    • 1900 Ripley Dist, Jackson, WV # 180-189
      John W 7/1873, m 8y
      Lieuvern E, 8/1873, 4-4
      Stella J, 3/1896
      Elijah W, 5/1895
      Jesse D, 6/1897
      Cecil M, da, 4-1900

      1910 Ripley Dist, Jackson, WV # 196-197 all WVWVWV
      Williams, John W 37 m1- 17y
      Laverna E, 37 m1- 17y 7-7 children
      Stella J da 16
      Elijah W son 15
      Jessie D son 13
      Cecil M, da 11
      John M son 7
      Bessie F da 3/12
      Okey G son 3/12

      1920 Ripley, Jackson, WV # 184-185 all WVWVWV
      Williams, Elija 24 m
      Rosa 24 m
      Josaphene da 1.5
      Verna mother 44 wd
      Bessie sister 9
      Okey bro 9
    Family ID F6980  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Amy Ethel Dewees,   b. 2 Sep 1912, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Sep 1989, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 77 years) 
    Married 28 Nov 1931  Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Children 
     1. Clay Williams,   b. 19 May 1938, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Apr 1967, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 28 years)
    Family ID F13339  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Headstones
    Williams, Okey Gay
    Williams, Okey Gay
    Headstone
    Williams, Okey Gay

  • Sources 
    1. [S17] Marriage Records, Jackson Co, WV.

    2. [S573] Tina Jernigan.