A Riverside County jury convicted Jamin Demar Williams, 44, on August 6, 2026, in the stabbing of his girlfriend under an Indio bridge. After roughly a day of deliberations following a multi-day trial, Williams is due back in court for sentencing and faces more than 10 years in state prison.
The jury found Williams guilty of felony assault with a deadly weapon resulting in great bodily injury and domestic violence, and found true an allegation that he used a deadly weapon in committing a felony, according to Patch. The attack took place in April 2024 near the Golf Center Parkway bridge in Indio, close to Interstate 10 Exit 144, where the freeway connects with Highway 111 in the eastern Coachella Valley, per AARoads.
The victim and Williams had been in a year-long relationship marked by domestic abuse and sometimes shared her tent under the bridge, according to MyNewsLA. The outlet reports that Williams accused her of setting him up before punching, kicking and stabbing her.
What prosecutors presented at trial
Prosecution trial briefs, as reported by MyNewsLA, alleged that Williams held the victim in her tent for more than 30 minutes with a six-inch knife and threatened to kill her. The briefs said he stabbed her in the neck, behind her right ear, and three times in her left arm and shoulder.
The victim escaped to a nearby 7-Eleven, where a clerk called 911, MyNewsLA reports. She was treated at a regional trauma center and has since recovered. Indio police detained Williams under the bridge; according to the outlet, he baited officers to shoot him, but no shots were fired and no one was injured.
Competency evaluations delayed proceedings
During an April 22, 2024, post-arrest interrogation, Williams told detectives he had three split personalities named “Jay,” “Ashad,” and “Quick,” claiming that “Jay” and “Ashad” were innocent while “Quick” refused to speak with police, according to Patch. He also told police he knew the woman but had never lived under the bridge, and said he was unsure how blood got onto his clothing and body, according to MyNewsLA.
Williams underwent psychiatric evaluations in 2024 and was ultimately found competent to stand trial, MyNewsLA reports. California Penal Code Sections 1367 and 1368 require proceedings to be suspended when a judge or defense counsel raises doubt about a defendant’s mental fitness, with formal evaluations required before the case can proceed, according to Eisner Gorin LLP.
Prior convictions and sentencing
Williams has prior California felony convictions for first-degree burglary and making criminal threats, and previously served state prison time, Patch reports. He has been held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside, the county’s main pretrial holding site, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.
Judge Laura Garcia is expected to sentence Williams to more than 10 years in state prison at the Riverside Hall of Justice, per MyNewsLA. The available reports do not say whether victim impact statements will be presented or whether mental health treatment recommendations will accompany his prison commitment.
California law enforcement agencies statewide responded to over 163,000 domestic violence-related 911 calls in 2024 alone, per Edgar & Dow.
What local call data shows
The County of Riverside’s FY 2024 Continuum of Care application, citing OpenJustice data, reports more than 7,672 calls for domestic-violence assistance from Riverside County in 2023, the most recent year it identifies. The cited application does not provide annual counts for 2019 through 2022, so the information reported here does not establish how the yearly totals changed over that period or how often calls resulted in an arrest, according to the County of Riverside application.
Support for survivors in the Coachella Valley
Riverside County lists the District Attorney’s Family Justice Center in Indio at 82675 Highway 111, First Floor, and says it is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services. Shelter From The Storm lists 24-hour crisis lines at 800-775-6055 and 760-328-SAFE (7233) and describes emergency and adjunctive domestic-violence services in the Coachella Valley, according to Shelter From The Storm.
