Williams lawyer lists mental illnesses in murder case

Vickie Williams’ lawyers have compiled a long list of mental illnesses for her in the horrific slaughter of a Central Florida couple. The state is seeking the death penalty for the slayings of Darryl and Sharon Getman of Mount Dora.

Statutory mitigators listed are that she was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, and that she was unable to appreciate the criminality or conform to the law.

Non-statutory mitigators listed are:

• Mental illness
• Paranoid schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia.
• Executive functioning deficiencies.
• Borderline intellectual functioning.
• Impulse control dysregulation
• School failures.
• Traumatic brain injuries.
• Adverse Childhood Experiences.
• Adverse Development.
• Delusional Disorder.
• Brain abnormalities.

Assistant Public Defender Morris Carranza had also filed in his pleadings a request for out-of-state family court records.

“Defendant’s biological father, Fred Williams, suffered from schizophrenia as does the defendant. Fred Williams was found not competent to proceed and was civilly committed in the sate of Ohio on a criminal matter…. Defense counsel has been made aware by mental health experts that the greatest r risk for schizophrenia is a familial history of it.”

The trial, which began Tuesday, Sept. 8, is expected to last about two weeks.