Homeless man on trial for Covington murder

By Suzanne Le Breton
St. Tammany News
Published on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 12:27 AM CST

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A transient homeless man is on trial this week for the murder of a Covington artist.

Kevin Williams, 30, was arrested in July of 2008 after he was found using one of the dead lady’s checks.

Authorities believe Williams stole the checks from the victim’s residence after beating her to death.

williams

Ilena Lyons’ landlord found her body in her North Vermont Street home six days prior after neighbors became concerned, reporting they had not seen the elderly lady in days and her mail had began piling up.

It was determined that Lyons had died from a blunt force trauma to her head and her body had been in the residence for approximately two weeks before the landlord found her.

When Williams was arrested he had no local address and authorities believe he had been living on the streets of Covington.

Neighbors told police Lyons, an artist who showed her work in the New Orleans area, had moved to Covington just months prior to her death.

Ironically, they told authorities, she moved to the Northshore from New Orleans in an attempt to get away from the crime.

In October of 2008, a grand jury indicted Williams on a second-degree murder charge.

He has previous convictions for violent crimes against women, and if found guilty of second-degree murder he will face up to 50 years in jail.

A jury was selected Monday for his trial and opening arguments were made in District Judge William Crain’s courtroom. Testimony continued Tuesday, and the trial is expected to wrap up later this week.

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Comments

3 comment(s)

HOSS wrote on Feb 2, 2010 2:44 PM:

" Mr Williams should be taken to an animal shelter, fed dog food, forced to live on a concrete floor, then after a year, put to sleep. This is not a man, it is an animal who needs to be put down. "

gator wrote on Jan 28, 2010 11:54 PM:

" 50 yrs doesn't seem enough time for this dreg of society.
Who could beat a defenseless senior citizen that did nothing more than bring joy to this world through her art work. It's sad.
I Pray he gets his just deserved! "

allison wrote on Jan 27, 2010 11:16 AM:

" Only 50 years!! And after committing violent crimes in the past,, maybe if he would have murdered this poor lady while under the influence of drugs he would have got life!! How sad!! This woman deserves better justice than that! "

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