Cuyahoga County judge’s son accused of fatally taking pictures spouse in Euclid, courtroom records say

EUCLID, Ohio — The son of Cuyahoga County Prevalent Pleas Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams fatally shot his wife, according to court data.

Omnisun Azali, 35, is billed with murder in the Wednesday fatal shooting of his wife, Mwaka Azali. He is being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on $1 million bond immediately after his first physical appearance Friday in Euclid Municipal Court docket.

Azali is a previous soldier in the U.S. Military who served a tour in Iraq. The state’s Bureau of Legal Investigation helped Euclid law enforcement method the criminal offense scene for proof. He worked as a task coordinator for the City of Cleveland H2o Air pollution Manage from January 2017 until eventually he resigned from his $81,000-per-year task in December, in accordance to town records and city spokeswoman Latoya Hunter Hayes.

The capturing took place Wednesday evening at the couple’s home on East 265th Street, north of Lakeshore Boulevard. Mwaka Azali died of a gunshot wound to the head, in accordance to the Cuyahoga County Health-related Examiner.

The shooting happened Wednesday evening at the couple’s home on East 265th Street, north of Lakeshore Boulevard. Mwaka Azali died of a gunshot wound to the head, in accordance to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner.

Euclid Police Capt. Mitch Houser on Thursday refused to release even primary information on the incident. The city has not responded to a public documents ask for for the report and a copy of the first 911 call made by Collier-Williams to Euclid police.

Collier-Williams when achieved on Friday mentioned she did not want to comment and referred a reporter to defense attorney Jeffrey Saffold.

Saffold explained to cleveland.com/The Plain Vendor that the taking pictures amounted to self-defense. He explained Omnisun Azali served his country in Iraq and has no record of violence.

“This is just an awful tragedy that his relatives is suffering with,” Saffold said.

Saffold stated he thinks Euclid police rushed to demand his shopper. He referred to as for an open up and complete investigation.

“We’re hoping there will not be an indictment,” Saffold claimed. “When there is an officer-associated capturing, they devote months if not months attempting to figure out regardless of whether or not to indict. We hope that since his company to his country and long regulation-abiding everyday living, and being a excellent father, they clearly show him the very same respect as police and really don’t leap to indict.”

Saffold claimed his consumer received into an argument with his wife whilst striving to consider their son to a doctor’s appointment. He mentioned Mwaka Azali fired at his customer 1st and that he fired back again.

Collier-Williams identified as police about 6 p.m. and advised dispatchers that “there may have been some shots fired” and that she “had a person with her who may have shot a person,” the records say. She informed dispatchers she did not know the victim’s affliction and reported her son, Azali, was in her car on the way again to his residence.

Collier-Williams also informed dispatchers that “both get-togethers were being shooting at every single other,” according to courtroom records. Dispatchers informed the choose not to push up to the household and to wait around right until police arrived.

Officers noticed the judge’s car or truck dashing on Lakeshore Boulevard and experimented with to halt it, according to courtroom records. She turned on to East 265th Street and stopped in front of her son’s household, the records say.

Law enforcement by that time experienced surrounded the house. Officers, with their guns drawn, requested equally the choose and her son out of the vehicle, according to the documents. Both of those complied, and officers led them to different law enforcement cruisers. Omnisun Azali informed law enforcement someone was injured within his home and gave officers a vital.

Officers went within and discovered the 37-year-outdated girl lifeless in the living area, slumped partially on the sofa.

Cuyahoga County Healthcare Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson afterwards arrived and located Mwaka Azali with three gunshot wounds— one particular guiding her correct ear, one close to the prime-ideal portion of her head, and one to her right cheek, according to the data. Blood soaked the sofa below her head, which led Gilson to notify investigators it appeared she was shot although the left aspect of her head was in opposition to the sofa.

Officers identified many bullet casings in the home from two unique guns, in accordance to courtroom information. They identified a loaded gun following to Mwaka Azali and one more, which had apparently malfunctioned following at least just one shot was fired, in a bed room, in accordance to the court docket information.

Three other bullets strike the wall, according to court documents.

Collier-Williams, though continue to detained in the police cruiser, explained to investigators that her son confirmed up at her household, where she achieved him, and that she drove him back to his home although contacting 911. She told investigators her son’s auto remained at her property, along with Mwaka and Omnisun Azali’s young children. It is unidentified if the youngsters ended up inside the home at the time of the taking pictures.

Officers drove Omnisun Azali to the police station, in which he declined to solution concerns devoid of an lawyer. He submitted to a gunshot residue take a look at, but the benefits ended up not bundled in court docket data.

Investigators combed as a result of the household and observed two AR-15 rifles, human body armor, hundreds of bullets, and “documentation involved with ‘sniper’ technique,” according to court information.

Police also reported discovering a notebook in a makeshift studio in the basement that depicted “disturbing or violent imagery,” according to courtroom information. One drawing depicted a handgun pointed at what appeared to be a girl with critical accidents to her confront and head— with brain issue or blood spurting from the wound— with the caption: “Boom, bang,” according to court docket information.

Detectives also reported finding a scrap piece of paper with a handwritten observe that stated: “Need an lawyer 2019-2021, She’s in regulate,” with no further context, according to courtroom records.

Investigators pointed out in court documents that their original assessment of the scene did not demonstrate that a gunfight happened, as Collier-Williams to begin with informed investigators.

There was no noticeable indication of a battle, no home furniture overturned and no damaged objects on the floor, court documents say. Omnisun Azali was not harm and Mwaka Azali had no other signals of personal injury outside the fatal gunshot wounds to her head, according to court docket data.

Investigators also mentioned they uncovered no other bullet holes other than in the wall guiding Mwaka Azali and the types that killed her. They also mentioned that Omnisun Azali did not phone 911 immediately after the capturing, opting alternatively to connect with his mother.

Saffold mentioned the existence of two fired guns within the house is evidence that the two shot at each other. He also reported the truth that Mwaka Azali was discovered dead on the couch could show that she was taking pictures at her husband as she fell, and that she landed on the sofa just after currently being shot.

“I’m anxious that the Euclid Police Division is beginning from an assumption of guilt and doing the job backward to test to attain the intention or proving him responsible, relatively than doing an open up investigation of what took place,” Saffold claimed. “They’re reaching their summary and attempting to justify it, when this circumstance screams self-protection.”

Omnisun Azali in 2014 published a e-book titled “Culture Shock: Veteran’s Guideline to Adjustment” in which he writes about a move-by-move approach for battle veterans having difficulties after they provide.

A bio on an Amazon.com listing for the book says he enlisted in the Army as a teenager “with with only a one request: ‘Get me on the front traces.’” He served in Iraq from 2006-2007 as an infantryman assigned to an elite Recon Sniper platoon, according to the book’s bio.

The e book chronicled his personal experiences modifying to civilian everyday living, as nicely as other veterans, such as two friends— a single who died in Iraq and a single who took his have existence in South Korea.

The book’s description claimed he devised his personal way to cope with returning from war following he turned disenchanted when he went to a psychologist, who “after a mere 5-moment conference instructed Azali to select up his anti-depressants prescription at the counter.”

He spoke to veteran’s teams across the country ahead of producing the e book, the bio claims.

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