In a video-taped police interview shown in court Monday, accused killer Ceaser James Williams denied committing the 2011 murder of Corey Demond Thomas at Sunlight Manor.

Williams, 26, of Mamou is accused of shooting Thomas, 32, on May 31, 2011, in an attempt to rob him of money and drugs. Williams is on trial on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated property damage.

Defense attorneys claim it was Williams’ cousin, Tracey Williams, who was the shooter. Tracey Williams said in 2011 that Ceaser Williams was the shooter, but he changed his story on the stand.

Two jurors were dismissed at their own request Monday, the fourth day of testimony. The first juror claimed that the length of the trial was creating a financial hardship for him, while the second juror claimed that as the trial has continued, he has realized he knows members of both families. The two alternate jurors filled their spots.

Ceaser Williams told Sgts. Franklin Fondel and Richard Harrell, with the Lake Charles Police Department, that he was not at Sunlight Manor on the night in question, but was with “my girl,” Mardell Lebleu.

Lebleu testified on Thursday that Ceaser Williams called her that night and told her to tell anyone who asked that he had been with her. He also told her what to say he was wearing, she said.

When presented with that information by the detectives, Ceaser Williams insisted that he had been with her, walking to and from her house. He also said he did not know Lebleu’s last name.

He first told the detectives that he had not seen Tracey Williams for two days, then said he had seen him in his green vehicle at a park Fisherville on May 31.

“We hollered and he left,” Ceaser Williams said.

Ceaser Williams also made several comments to himself after the detectives left the interview room.

“I didn’t kill nobody, they trippin’,” he said.

The detectives then sent Tracey Williams into the room to talk to Ceaser Williams.

“Everybody done seen it,” Tracey Williams told his cousin, although he never told his cousin that he had told police that Ceaser Williams had committed the murder.

“I’m not telling you what to do, but find it in your heart,” Tracey Williams told Ceaser Williams, also telling him, “you might have to do some time.”

Tracey Williams also told Ceaser Williams that “last night was a night we never gonna forget,” and called the events “shocking.”

Left alone in the room again, Ceaser Williams said “None of them … kept it real.”

Tracey Williams said he initially told police during the 7 a.m. interview that Ceaser Williams was the shooter because Fondel told him he was going to be charged as the getaway driver. He said Fondel made the threat off camera after much interrogation.

While Harrell said on the tape that Tracey Williams was taken in custody at 3 a.m., Fondel said on the stand Monday that was incorrect. Fondel said he was interviewing Bryce Joseph at 2:40 a.m., when he got an anonymous phone call at 2:50 a.m. that led him to Tracey Williams and the green Honda CR-V. Tracey Williams was taken into custody at 4:30 a.m.; Fondel conducted another interview at 6:20 a.m., then interviewed Tracey Williams at 7:14 a.m., he said.

In Tracey Williams’ interview with Fondel and Harrell, also shown in court Monday, he said that while he witnessed the shooting, he did not realize until later that Ceaser Williams was the shooter.

Tracey Williams also protested his innocence in the incident.

“Why are y’all doing this to me,” he asked the detectives.

Tracey Williams, who admitted he was a crack dealer, said he met Thomas three times May 31 to buy wet — Thomas would dip a cigarette in PCP for $15. They met at Henry Heights the first time, then met at Sunlight Manor the second two times.

Ceaser Williams was at Sunlight Manor the second time, Tracey Williams said.

Thomas was killed on his third trip, Tracey Williams said. He said he was talking to someone at his car door when he heard someone say, “give it up.” He heard gunshots, then heard Thomas say “I’m shot.” Thomas was about five feet behind the CR-V, he said.

Sheena Leday testified Friday that Tracey Williams was in the front seat, Ceaser Williams was in the passenger seat and Thomas got in behind Tracey Williams. Tracey Williams told her to walk away from the vehicle, she said. She then heard gunshots, she said.

Tracey Williams said he and Ceaser Williams were not together. He said he did not want to believe Ceaser Williams could do such a thing.

“When I got word on the street that it was Ceaser, I knew it was true because he was over there,” Tracey Williams said.

Ceaser Williams was wearing a baseball cap when Tracey Williams first went to Sunlight Manor, but was wearing a large camouflage hat and a plain white T-shirt when the shooting happened, Tracey Williams said. Ceaser Williams, who was with someone else, then chased Thomas, while the other man yelled “shoot him,” Tracey Williams said.

“When the street said it was Ceaser, that’s when I knew for sure it was Ceaser,” Tracey Williams said.

The gun looked like a semiautomatic handgun, Tracey Williams said.

Tracey Williams initially told the investigators that he had never had a gun, but after the detectives told him his girlfriend said he had had a revolver in the kitchen of their home, Tracey Williams said he once had a green and black 9 millimeter.

On the stand Monday, Tracey Williams said the shooter had a big hat, but it wasn’t Ceaser Williams.

He also denied it was he who shot Thomas.

Tracey Williams has been convicted of nine felonies.(MGNonline)