SAN DIEGO — Ex-San Ysidro High School basketball star Mikey Williams was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges of assault with a firearm and shooting at an occupied vehicle for allegedly opening fire on a group of people in a car outside his Jamul home.
Williams, 19, was bound over for trial following a preliminary hearing regarding an alleged March 27 shooting outside his home.
The defendant, whose real name is Michael Anthony Williams, was committed to play at the University of Memphis, but the school's athletic department recently said that while Williams is enrolled in online classes and is on the team roster, "he will not have access to team-related facilities or activities until his pending legal process in California is complete."
Williams faces up to 28 years in state prison if convicted of all current charges, though Deputy District Attorney George Modlin suggested after the hearing that additional charges could be forthcoming.
According to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, gunfire erupted just before midnight following an argument "about guests in the house being asked to leave."
As a Tesla occupied by six people drove away, it was struck by gunfire, prosecutors say. However, no one inside the car was hit.
Three juveniles testified Tuesday that Williams threatened them at his home moments before the car they were riding in was struck by gunfire.
One girl testified Williams told the group, "We better get to stepping or you'll leave with bullet holes."
Another girl testified he said, "We're up in the mountains so no one will be able to save us or help us."
A boy stated Williams told them, "Y'all better leave before I kill of y'all."
None of the witnesses who testified Tuesday stated they actually saw Williams open fire on the vehicle, though some of the witnesses said they saw him holding a gun. Witnesses also testified that no one in the group who arrived at Williams' house was armed or made any threats toward him.
The car sustained two gunshots to the trunk and two to the back windshield, according to testimony.
Williams' defense attorney, Troy Owens, asked a judge to dismiss the charges against his client, and noted the lack of direct statements from any witnesses about Williams shooting at them.
He also argued the shooting may have been an act of self-defense.
To that end, Owens said a group of people showed up at Williams' home unannounced and did not immediately leave when asked. He also noted testimony from one witness who said at one point the car stopped as it was departing the home and one of the girls got out and made threatening statements about killing a dog on the premises. That statement allegedly was made just before the gunfire rang out.
Modlin argued any self-defense claims were "quite laughable" and argued the girl in question posed no threat to the dog, described by one witness as a pitbull. The prosecutor also said there was tenuous evidence to show a dog was at the home at all on the night of the shooting.
"Mr. Williams should count himself lucky that he's not here on some type of murder charge," Modlin said.
Superior Court Judge Sherry Thompson-Taylor noted no one stated seeing Williams open fire, but said there was circumstantial evidence to show he was the shooter, including his alleged possession of a gun and his alleged threatening statements to the witnesses.
Williams remains out of custody on $50,000 bail.
The judge denied a prosecution request to raise bail to $500,000. Modlin argued that in addition to a sixth victim that investigators did not previously know was in the Tesla, one witness made statements he argued amounted to "witness tampering" on Williams' part.
That witness said one of the girls allegedly shot at had instructed him not to testify for his safety. She also said he would be paid if he didn't testify, the boy said on the stand.
Thompson-Taylor said Williams had followed all court orders since he was initially charged, had no prior criminal history, and said the witness' statements could not be attributed to Williams.
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