Suspected Quik Chek Market shooter held without bail

Court documents filed by the prosecution argue Williams is too dangerous to be given bail before trial or a plea.

“Due to the extremely violent nature of robbing and murdering Kayla Chapman, (Williams) presents an extremely high risk of danger if released,” the filing said. “As surveillance shows, he attempted to shoot Chapman immediately upon entering (the Quick Chek) and attempted to shoot her again before robbing her. Then, despite the fact that she had cooperated, and after he had obtained the stolen property, he shot and killed Chapman.”

Nevertheless, Williams’ court-appointed defense attorney Ian Maher argued for $5 million bail, saying the only evidence presented in court so far is from a police probable cause statement.

Maher noted that the gunman seen in the store video is “completely covered other than eyes and hands.” He also said it “logically makes no sense to shoot somebody and then rob them. … There’s a lot to figure out here.”

He also reiterated that Williams is still presumed innocent, to which Williams nodded vigorously from a courtroom cell. Williams said nothing during the hearing.

Bail should be set in a fair way and not influenced by the public “frenzy” over the case, Maher said.

Bentson maintained that the bail hearing’s purpose is to safeguard the community, not to determine Williams’ guilt or innocence. Warning ultimately sided with Bentson, finding Williams’ extensive juvenile criminal history “remarkable.”

Williams will be held in jail until trial, which likely will be scheduled when Williams is scheduled to enter a plea on Feb. 12.

Police records based on surveillance footage from the store report that a hooded gunman, carrying a backpack in one hand and a handgun in the other, exited from the front passenger side of a white 2013 Hyundai and entered the store at about 4:10 a.m.

After robbing the store and Chapman, the gunman shot her, footage shows, and fled back into the Hyundai.

Warning also agreed to a request to order Williams to provide DNA and finger/hand prints for analysis. The Washington State Patrol crime lab has collected DNA evidence from the areas the gunman was seen touching in surveillance footage.

The gunman in the surveillance footage “was not wearing gloves on his hands,” the request reads in part. “He touched items in the store with his hands.”

Williams’ probation officer, who has known him since Williams was 12, identified him as the gunman to police from surveillance video, according to court records. The records also state that Williams’ mother alerted the probation officer that the robber may have been her son.

The evening after the shooting, detectives contacted Hali Morales, a Vancouver woman who said Williams had taken her car without permission from a Vancouver motel on Jan. 17. She identified both the vehicle and Williams in photographs provided by police.

Filings from the prosecution said that according to witnesses, Williams had been using alcohol, marijuana, Xanax and methamphetamine prior to stealing Morales’ car. (Xanax is used to treat anxiety and panic disorder but can cause multiple mental impairments and can be fatal if used along with alcohol or if too much is taken, according to DrugAbuse.com.)

The day after the shooting, several police agencies arrested Williams in Camas. He told them unsolicited that he was a drug dealer, according to police, and was found with 7.7 grams of methamphetamine.His girlfriend, Bethany Collins, was with him when he was arrested, according to police. However, she was not with Williams at the time of the crime, according to new records entered by the prosecution. She told detectives that he showed up Wednesday and asked her to help him “come up with a story.” She identified the backpack used by the gunman as hers.