The trial of a man accused of shooting and killing a high school senior at Orland Square mall in Orland Park saw the latest in a series of delays on Monday, as prosecutors say a key witness is evading testimony.
Jakharr Williams, of University Park, is charged with murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery following the Jan. 21, 2019, shooting death of 18-year-old Javon Britten.
“It’s sad, that’s for sure,” Williams’ mother, Gloria Barnes, said Monday, after Judge Margaret Ogarek postponed the jury trial at the Bridgeview Courthouse to Oct. 19. “We’ve been in and out for seven years.”
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Williams, now 28, asked for more information from the court in a letter entered into the court file on July 8.
“I’m having trouble comprehending my case. I have the right to know everyone who’s made a statement on my case against me,” Williams wrote in the letter. “I’ve been here seven years trying to get these things please help. God bless.”
Williams was arrested in Matteson two days after the shooting after an intensive manhunt and has been held at Cook County Jail since an initial court appearance that month.
Ogarek on Monday ordered Armani Griffin be arrested and held in contempt after refusing to appear as a witness for prosecutors in the case. Prosecutors allege that Griffin was the victim of attempted first-degree murder at the hands of Williams and was present during the shooting death of Britten.
But Griffin, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, has failed to comply with a subpoena to appear and testify during Williams’ jury trial, prosecutors said in a July 6 petition asking that Griffin be named a material witness. The trial was previously rescheduled twice, after being set for March 30 and June 15, according to Cook County court filings.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office said late Monday it does not comment on pending cases in response to queries about the delays.
Williams’ attorney, David Drwencke, said he provided Williams with updated case fillings after seeing his client’s plea for better communication.
“I can only imagine, not having been in those shoes exactly, that the night before trial there’s anxiety and butterflies and whatever other human emotion you’re having,” Drwencke said Monday. “And then you go in, and (the judge is) like, ‘You’re not going. See you a month from now or 45 days from now or longer,’ and how deflating that’s got to be.”
While Drwencke said he understands the frustration felt by Williams, his family and others about the series of delays, he blames the system instead of prosecutors. He said he understands that for prosecutors, it can feel like “herding cats” trying to round up witnesses years after the shooting.
“I don’t know if we should be shedding tears or not that the state’s job is made more difficult, but I’m empathetic — I understand it,” he said. “It’s another reason why cases should perhaps move more quickly through the system, because you don’t run into that issue.”
Drwencke affirmed his client intends to claim self-defense at trial. A Jan. 24, 2025, filing says Williams planned to introduce evidence of felony convictions on the part of the victim, including reckless discharge of a firearm.
The attorney said Williams will also introduce evidence of “years of what could be classified as bullying/harassment” of his client by the victim.
Authorities said at the time of Williams’ arrest that he and Britten, of Richton Park, knew each other, and that Williams graduated in 2017 from Rich Central.
Prosecutors said Williams followed Britten and his friends inside the mall Jan. 21, 2019, after they left a store and walked near the mall’s food court.
Williams began yelling at the group and words were exchanged before Williams began shooting, firing seven times, according to prosecutors. Britten was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died a short time after the shooting.
Prosecutors said the shooting caused shoppers to hide in the rear of stores for safety with store gates closed.
Prosecutors said before being charged in the Orland Park shooting, Williams had two felony convictions for robbery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was on parole for the robbery conviction, with his parole due to end in June 2020, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.