Witnesses: Murder of Hallsville Teen Unprovoked
Posted/updated on: October 16, 2013 at 3:35 pm
LONGVIEW The October 5 shooting that took the life of a 17-year-old Hallsville girl was unprovoked, witnesses tell Kilgore police. That report comes from the Longview News-Journal. According to a search warrant filed in Gregg County 124th District Court and made available Monday, witnesses said Coby Ray Hudgins, 22, leveled a gun and shot Kayla Williams for no apparent reason at his home in the 3000 block of Mustang Drive in Kilgore. The witnesses stated there had been no threats, no violence or arguments amongst any of the individuals in the house before the shooting, the warrant said.
Gregg County judicial records show Hudgins, who was charged with murder and driving while intoxicated in connection with the nights events, was released Friday from Gregg County Jail on bonds totaling $101,000. The search warrant, which was filed by officers to search Hudgins Ford Explorer for physical evidence of the crime of murder, had been kept at the Kilgore Police Department but was returned Monday to the Gregg County District Clerks office.
According to the warrant, Williams, Hudgins and two other girls, the witnesses, were at Hudgins house drinking throughout the evening before the shooting took place. The witnesses indicated the suspected party had a gun, pointed it at Kayla Williams and shot her, the warrant said. The two girls told police they ran from the home after the shooting and heard additional gunshots. Officers found two bullet holes in the wall directly next to the door of the home during their investigation, the warrant says.
A preliminary autopsy, completed October 6 by Robert Lyon of the Forensic Medical of Texas in Tyler, ruled the manner of death a homicide and the cause of death a gunshot wound to the head with perforation of skull and brain. Assistant Kilgore Police Chief Roman Roberson said Williams was dead when police arrived late Saturday at Hudgins home. According to the warrant, the witnesses and Hudgins mother had returned to the scene before police arrived. Roberson said Hudgins left before police arrived at the residence. He was detained by Department of Public Safety troopers after a wreck on FM 2087 and charged with driving while intoxicated.
