The details from the Sept. 27 court hearing were chilling.
A violent sexual assault inside a River North hotel was, according to Cook County prosecutors, the plan of a career criminal and con man hoping to sue the hotel’s parent company for lax security. Those who know the man told investigators that he’s an able-bodied man who uses a wheelchair as a prop in bogus lawsuits, attorneys told a judge.
The victim, unaware of the plan, was lured to the downtown hotel by the man’s longtime girlfriend for a fun weekend getaway before she moved out of state the next day. Instead, she was accosted by a masked assailant after she exited an elevator, tied up and assaulted at knife point in a stairwell.
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On Tuesday, prosecutors alleged that the girlfriend, Taniqua Williams, called the victim’s mother and asked her to pass along a message: Recant your rape claims and tell police that you lied.
The call came the same day authorities had charged her fiance, Tirnell Williams, with several felonies, including conspiracy to commit aggravated rape related to the Aug. 14 attack at the Home2 Suites by Hilton Chicago River North.
The victim was upset and frightened after her mother relayed Williams’ message to her, prosecutors told a judge during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube. Days later, Taniqua Williams allegedly threatened another unidentified witness in her boyfriend’s criminal case, telling the person, “We know you’re a (expletive) snitch! Bang bang!” pointing her finger like a gun, according to prosecutors.
Taniqua Williams, 33, now faces felony charges for communicating with and harassing a witness.
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Taniqua Williams, a resident of the Woodlawn neighborhood and mother of an 8-year-old, was ordered held on $250,000 bond, along with house arrest if she posts the required $25,000.
Tirnell Williams, 43, remains in custody after being denied bail by another judge. At his Sept. 27 hearing, authorities described Williams as a predatory opportunist and admitted scammer who lied with regularity. A nine-time felon, Williams had prior relationships with “several civil attorneys through bringing in potential lawsuits,” adding that he receives money from attorneys to bring in clients.
Authorities said Tirnell Williams had scouted out the Hilton Corp. as a target for a personal injury lawsuit due to what he thought was poor security and a lack of surveillance cameras.
The state’s attorney’s office has disclosed that a recorded phone conversation allegedly captured Tirnell Williams admitting to planning the August rape and lawsuit against Hilton, a global hotel chain with nearly 600 locations.
In court on Tuesday, authorities said Taniqua Williams’ message to the victim following her boyfriend’s arrest was done despite both a police detective and an assistant state’s attorney advising her not to contact the victim or her mother.
But recorded telephone conversations allegedly captured Taniqua Williams admitting to someone that she called the victim’s mother, Assistant State’s Attorney Amanda Bielinski told Judge John Lyke Jr. Williams later allegedly made the same admission to police, she added. Authorities gave no other details about the recorded conversation.
Prosecutors recounted the graphic sequence of events first heard during Tirnell Williams’ bail hearing. The 32-year-old victim was quietly tailed while returning to the hotel after a short trip to a nearby Walgreens. The victim was on the phone with Taniqua Williams during her walk back, but the call ended when the victim reached the hotel, Bielinski said.
Taniqua Williams said she awoke to find the victim hadn’t returned and left the hotel to look for her, Bielinski said. She later found her friend in the stairwell, tied to the railing with her own leggings, authorities said.
Taniqua Williams denied the allegations through her court-appointed attorney, Emily Bock, who said she was an unemployed mom with mental health issues and a volunteer for a south suburban youth cheer team.
The judge gave Taniqua Williams the high bail partly because of the cruel nature of the rape case. “In essence the victim of this rape and armed robbery was set up by this woman, according to the state’s proffer,” Lyke said. “And this woman was allegedly her friend. With friends like this you do not need an enemy.”
Lyke also called the harassment case an attack on the legal justice system. “If we allow witnesses to be intimidated or threatened not to come to court, then bad guys can get away with doing bad things.”
The judge barred Taniqua Williams from contacting the victim or any witnesses.
She is scheduled to return to court next week.
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