Disappointed by a jury’s April verdict, Mary Graham is trying to make sure her teenage daughter’s killer is locked up for as long as the law allows.
Lindsey Graham was just 17 when she was killed by a jilted ex-boyfriend inside her family’s Southwest Miami-Dade house in August 2004.
“Lindsey was a joy,” Graham said.
Justice for Lindsey Graham Petition
Graham’s sister, Louise Mackenzie Graham, found the teenager slumped over on her bed moments after she was shot.
“I was really looking forward to seeing the woman she was going to become,” Mackenzie Graham said.
Graham and her family are trying to understand, despite an alleged confession to police, the reason Larry Robert Williams was not convicted of first-degree murder. He was convicted on a lesser charge of manslaughter instead.
“We weren't certain with what we just heard. We were sure we had heard a mistake,” Graham said.
A transcript of Williams’ interview with police quoted him as saying “payback or revenge” were reasons he shot his estranged girlfriend in August of 2004.
Using a modified AK-47, police said Williams shot inside the bedroom window where Lindsey was packing for a family reunion.
“You could tell that someone had shot through the window. And Lindsey was on the bed. But I couldn't see who was out there and I didn't know if they were still out there,” Mackenzie Graham recalled.
After calling 911 and trying to perform CPR on her niece, Mackenzie Graham said the Palmetto Bay High School student died almost instantly.
Eight years and one emotional trial later, Graham said her daughter is still sorely missed. An only child who excelled at writing and had finished pre-college programs, Lindsey had a bright future.
While Graham can’t change the jury’s decision, she and her family plan to ask the judge that Williams serve a maximum sentence.
The Graham family has gathered dozens of letters of support as well as nearly 800 words of encouragement through an online petition they created on www.change.org. They said they want the judge to know the impact violence has had on their family.
“And to do it for Lindsey. We’re her voice now,” Graham said.
The maximum possible sentence for Williams is 45 years in prison. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Tuesday inside a Miami-Dade County courtroom.