Military veteran Sgt. First Class Shantaya Clarice Williams, 49, is now awaiting trial after being arrested for allegedly deserting the U.S. Army and going absent without leave (AWOL), charges that her attorney says are trumped up because she is a whistleblower.
Williams was held in the county jail awaiting transfer into the custody of the U.S. Army. She is facing a possible five-year sentence and a dishonorable discharge if convicted of the charges.
Williams said her arrest on December 1, which she alleges included having her front door kicked off its hinges as she breastfed her infant child, was based on a medical transfer technicality and a U.S. Army human resources error.
Sean Timmons, Williams’ attorney and a former Fort Worth army prosecutor, said Williams is not guilty of the charges of AWOL and desertion and believes her gunpoint arrest should outrage all Americans.
“Completely unnecessary,” he told CBS News. “That is the kind of behavior reserved for fugitive murderers, cop killers, hardened criminals.”
“I was hunted down like a dog,” Williams told CBS News from the detention center.
Timmons said Williams went through the proper channels to avoid a transfer to Virginia, and he provided the Grand Prairie News (GPN) with a letter from a physician reporting that “she is still unstable” at the end of September.
Williams is a wife and mother of four who joined the Army at 17. She is an Iraqi War veteran and has served in the U.S. Army and Reserves for more than 20 years. Due to PTSD and family matters, Williams requested to delay her transfer to Virginia.
Timmons said that because Williams reported wrongdoing and is a whistleblower, the U.S. Army Command punished her by labeling her AWOL and then a deserter. It is unclear whether Timmons’ whistleblower claim refers to this case or to a prior circumstance.
“Williams is currently Absent Without Leave under what amounts to a misunderstanding,” Timmons wrote to the Army Human Resources Command in mid-November.
Timmons asserted that he reached out to facilitate a solution, but instead, the Army retaliated, ordering Williams’ arrest.
The U.S. Marshall Service and Grand Prairie PD officers broke through the door of Williams’ home, emotionally scarring the entire family, Williams claimed.
Timmons contended the commander who ordered the charges and arrest should be charged with abuse of process, gross corruption, and dereliction, GPN reported.
“The Army Reserve is committed to the fair treatment of all Soldiers and Civilians,” a U.S. Army Reserves Public Affairs Office said in a statement to CBS News. “Allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and reviewed under applicable, controlling regulations. Soldiers are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.”
The statement noted that the Privacy Act prohibits the Army Reserve from discussing the details of Williams’ case or any others.
After spending more than a week in the Kaufman County Detention Center, Williams is now awaiting trial in Fort Hill, Oklahoma, Timmons told The Dallas Express.
