MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee man has been indicted in the killing earlier this year of his 63-year-old grandmother who was found beaten and stabbed in her Raleigh apartment, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
Juamark Ryans, 25, and his girlfriend, Kiawana Haynes, 20, were arrested six days later in San Diego where they had tried to steal a yacht. Ryans said his name was Miguel Williams and that the yacht belonged to a wealthy uncle.
Ryans, who was extradited to Memphis this week, was indicted on first-degree murder charges in the death of Bessie Lee Williams who was found dead on Feb. 22 in her apartment in the 2600 block of East Barbara Circle.
Haynes was indicted on a felony count of facilitation of first-degree murder. She is being held on $1 million bond at the Shelby County Women’s Jail East.
Ryans and Haynes, both from Clarksville, had been staying with the victim, whose car was recovered in San Diego after the arrest of the couple at a marina there on Feb. 28.
San Diego police were called when a 56-foot yacht that Ryans was trying to steal from the marina struck the rocks in the jetty, damaging the hull and propeller. Ryans pled guilty there to theft of property over $10,000.
The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Alanda Dwyer of the District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Unit 7 which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders in Criminal Court Division 7.
