Inset: Drew Williams (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Capri Motel in Lake Worth Beach where Drew Williams allegedly tried to drown his fiancee (Google Maps).
A Florida man is accused of attempting to kill his fiancee in a motel pool — allegedly screaming “she’s trying to drown herself” after pushing the woman under repeatedly and leaving her “face-down in the water,” cops say.
Drew Williams, 45, of Ormond Beach, is facing attempted homicide and domestic battery charges in connection to the alleged attack on his fiancee, with cops saying it went down Saturday evening at the Capri Motel in Lake Worth Beach.
Police were alerted to the “possible drowning” and arrived at the scene at around 5 p.m., according to a probable cause affidavit for Williams’ arrest. Officers who responded allegedly found Williams at the pool and he denied knowing what had happened. Williams’ fiancee was not in the water when they arrived, per the affidavit.
“I asked Williams whether someone had been drowning. He replied, ‘No,’ and stated he had just pulled someone out of the pool,” an officer alleges in the affidavit. “I asked where the female was, and he responded, ‘I do not know.'”
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Authorities at the scene reported multiple “inconsistencies” and “vague responses” from Williams, which prompted them to check the motel property. His fiancee was eventually found “standing alone, visibly panicked and soaked — consistent with having been in the pool,” the affidavit says.
“She appeared extremely emotional and struggled to communicate in English,” the document alleges. “Although her speech was limited due to language barriers and panic, later review of my Body-Worn Camera (BWC) footage revealed [the woman] repeatedly pointing at the pool and Williams, stating that he tried to kill her, and motioning as if being held or pushed underwater.”
The woman’s “distressed state” made it difficult for cops to understand what was going on, with the “full context” of what happened being “unclear,” the affidavit says.
Williams allegedly explained to officers that the victim was “his girlfriend of over a year” and she “suffers from the onset of dementia and Parkinson’s disease.” He claimed that she “needed to be Baker Acted” in the past — in reference to the Florida Mental Health Act, which allows for the involuntary hospitalization of individuals with mental health conditions — and said he saw the woman “thrashing in the pool from his room window,” per the affidavit.
“He stated he went downstairs, entered the pool, and pulled her out by the elbow,” the document explains. “However, despite claiming to rescue her, Mr. Williams did not accompany [the victim] and was unable to account for her whereabouts.”
Police interviewed a witness at the motel who said they saw the victim being “pushed” by Williams and forced under the water for at least five minutes, according to the affidavit.
“She was unable to breathe,” the document alleges. “Williams said nothing during the attack. She also stated that in the past, Williams had threatened to kill her if she ever left him.”
While being examined by paramedics in an ambulance, the victim allegedly said she and Williams were “arguing and then he pulled her in the middle of the pool without her consent and pulled her in the middle of the water,” according to the affidavit.
The victim told police that she and Williams have had problems in the past and she believes he allegedly “tried to kill her” on at least one other occasion by “choking her.” But authorities were never called about the alleged incident.
The affidavit notes how the woman “suffers from early stages of Parkinson’s disease” but she was “mentally alert” at the time police made contact with her at the motel.
Paramedics took Williams’ fiancee to the hospital and she continued to explain some of the problems she had been having with him, according to police. “In the past she looked through his phone and discovered that he was cheating on her with other women and that she told him that their relationship is over,” the affidavit says.
“Williams told her that, ‘If you ever leave me, I will find you and find a way to kill you,'” according to police. “[The woman] believed that Mr. Williams was telling the truth because she later mentioned that Mr. Williams’s father pointed a firearm to her mother’s head, in addition to his younger brother who is in prison from killing someone. With all the leading details that was provided to her by Mr. Williams including telling her that his family is dangerous and to not mess with them, lead [the woman] up to the point to believe Mr. Williams would kill her.”
The victim alleged that she and Williams were “arguing because she is financially the breadwinner in the family” and Williams “uses her money on alcohol and he gets aggressive when he drinks,” according to cops. “She later found out that Mr. Williams was spending her money on another female that lives in the motel, so she told him to go live with her and because she will not go through with … being married with him,” the affidavit says.
The woman told cops she went outside to the pool on her own, and entered the water by the railings. She started doing “breathing exercises” by putting her face in the water and holding her breath “while holding her hands onto the railings for support” near the deeper end of the pool, according to the affidavit.
The victim allegedly noticed Williams approaching her and he asked her if she was okay.
“[The woman] thought it was a little weird because she said that Mr. Williams knows that what she does on the regular and Mr. Williams have been in the pool together multiple times in the past when she is doing her breathing exercises,” the affidavit explains. “Mr. Williams looked around the pool area and when nobody was around he then entered the pool. Mr. Williams then grabbed her and pulled her to the middle … and he intentionally pushed her down underneath the water with both hands pressed against her back.”
A witness allegedly called 911 after hearing Williams scream about how “she was trying to kill herself,” according to police. Williams has been released on bond and ordered to stay away from his fiancee. His next court date is Oct. 6, per local records.
