Man found guilty of murder in 2006 cold case killing of 16-year-old girl Amber Woods

Tyjuan Williams was found guilty of second-degree murder Friday in the death of 16-year-old Amber Woods, whose body was discovered near State Road 62 in 2006.

The 35-year-old Hardee County man was initially charged with first-degree murder before the jury convicted him of the lesser second-degree charge, according to Manatee County Clerk of Court records. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20 at the Manatee County Judicial Center, with the maximum penalty being life in prison.

The investigation into the teenager’s murder went cold until 2020 when the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office used cell phone technology to place suspects at the scene of the murder.

Tyjuan’s brother, Ralph Williams, was in a relationship with Amber and believed she was pregnant in February 2006, investigators say. At the time, Ralph wanted to end the relationship, according to court records, but he worried that he would face charges for a sexual relationship with a minor.

Ralph, who was 20 years old at the time, conspired with his brothers Tyjuan and Jamaine Brown, to kidnap Amber and kill her, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said in 2020.

That’s when Jamaine drove his half-brothers Ralph and Tyjuan Williams, along with Amber, to a rural location alongside State Road 62, three miles from Hardee County, which is where Amber lived, prosecutors said.

Amber’s body was spotted by a driver about 20 feet from SR 62 at 7:30 a.m. on Feb 11, 2006. She had a single gunshot wound to her back.

She had last been seen by her aunt several hours before at their home in the 3100 block of SR 62 in Hardee County.

An autopsy would later confirm that Woods was not pregnant.

Detectives had developed the three brothers as suspects early in the case but were not able to collect enough evidence to charge them at the time, the Bradenton Herald previously reported. But the three were arrested in 2020 after a crime scene analyst was able to use previously unavailable cellular tracking software to put together a diary of the night which placed a cellphone used by Ralph Williams near the area where Woods’ body was found, giving the case new light.

Story continues

Brown was charged with kidnapping in May 2020 after a witness to the kidnapping identified him as the man seen arguing with Woods outside her home in the early morning hours of Feb. 11, 2006, the day she went missing, and ordering her to get into the car, according to court records.

As part of a plea deal, on Nov. 2, Brown detailed the kidnapping and murder during a recorded interview.

Text messages between Woods and Ralph Williams a week before she was found dead revealed a conversation about her being pregnant and his fear of facing criminal charges, investigators said.

Ralph Williams is also facing first-degree murder charges for Woods’ killing and is scheduled to face trial in September.