Police: Suspect Admits Strangling Woman in Kilgore

KILGORE — The arrest report from the Kilgore Police Department says Willie Clarence Sims admitted to the choking of Amanda Woods. According to KETK, police say Sims confessed to accidentally strangling Woods when she asked him to choke her while she smoked crack because it increased her high. Sims said that he then used a belt to choke Woods and that when she collapsed and died, he began to panic. He said he put Woods in her car and drove her to the area where she was found on FM 349. Sims then reportedly went to a friend’s house and called police. When he first spoke to police, he gave several different accounts of the story before finally confessing, according to law enforcement.

The 30-year-old woman’s body was found by Kilgore Police on Tuesday, around 3:18 a.m., in a vehicle on FM 349 near the intersection of FM 2276. Police had responded to a reported vehicle crash but soon discovered no crash had occurred. Initial investigation suggested Sims, 37, of Kilgore was connected to the crime, according to authorities.

Further investigation by the Kilgore Police Department Criminal Investigation Unit resulted in the execution of a search warrant at Sims�s apartment located at the Stone Creek Apartment Complex at 400 Pine Burr Lane. The facts and evidence gathered indicated Sims strangled Woods at the apartment and then attempted to cover up the crime by staging a vehicle crash on FM 349, according to officials. Sims is currently incarcerated in the Gregg County Jail charged with tampering with physical evidence/human corpse – felony, with an assessed bond of $100,000. The case will be sent to the Gregg County District Attorney�s Office for review and consideration of criminal charges.