Larry Williams (Franklin County Sheriff’s Office).
An Ohio man will spend the rest of his life behind the walls and bars of a federal prison for a multilevel underworld conspiracy that left three people dead in quick succession, two bodies dismembered, and human remains spread throughout the Buckeye State.
Larry J. “J Streets” Williams Jr., 43, was convicted of all 16 counts against him on Tuesday after a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson in the Southern District of Ohio.
In 2018, Williams was a key figure in a scheme to rob a drug dealer of marijuana and cash, according to a press release.
But the conspiracy did not go exactly as planned.
Williams was not the mastermind, federal prosecutors say. Rather, he was recruited to help effectuate the violence that would yield the ill-gotten cash and drugs — which the conspirators planned to sell.
In June 2018, during the robbery, Williams murdered Connor Reynolds, 23, who was not even the drug dealer targeted in the quickly-awry plot but who simply lived at the residence in question.
The death of Reynolds, however, left at least one witness.
In August 2018, in turn, Williams killed Henry Watson, 52, to stop him from providing information to law enforcement. But one mess beget another. There was then a witness to Watson’s murder. Immediately after killing Watson, Williams murdered Tera Pennington, 48.
By then, Williams was apparently in a position to command some allegiance and obedience within the conspiracy. He directed several underlings to clean the second crime scene with bleach and other chemical cleaning products. Then, he directed those co-conspirators to “dismember and remove the bodies,” secret them away, and bury them in different locations, authorities said.
After the clean-up job, the second residence — a small house on Stevens Avenue in Columbus — became something of a drug den.
Williams lorded over the house, where he went on to sell fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. Drug users were allowed to engage in their recreational uses in the house as well.
“On more than one occasion, users overdosed in the basement of the home, and coconspirators provided Narcan to revive the users,” federal authorities said in the press release.
Eight defendants were originally charged in February 2021 — including four with crimes related to the dismemberment and relocation of the two final victims; a superseding indictment added an additional five defendants in September 2021. To date, seven of the co-defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges in the sprawling case.
In sum, Williams was convicted of three counts of murder related to a crime of violence, two counts of murder of a witness, as well as one count each of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, murder related to drug trafficking, robbery, conspiracy to destroy evidence, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of cocaine.
“We hope this verdict brings closure to the victims’ families and serves as a significant step towards justice for our Ohio communities,” HSI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Angie M. Salazar said. “Larry Williams’ crimes have come to an end.”
