The jury in the case against a New Kensington man accused of a murder 4½ years ago will continue deliberating Friday morning.

They are deciding the fate of Latresse Williams, who is accused of slaying Anthone Williams in New Kensington in January 2020.

The attorney for Latresse Williams, 33, on Thursday there is no evidence his client is the killer.

Defense attorney Tim Dawson said the prosecution’s case against Williams was based on questionable scientific evidence linking him to the alleged murder weapon and a cellphone. The phone was found in a parked car with the lifeless body of Anthone Williams at an abandoned housing complex in New Kensington on Jan. 15, 2020.

“There is no evidence of specific intent to kill because nobody knows what happened in that car,” Dawson argued. “They have no eyewitnesses. We have another shooter, and we don’t know who that is.”

Williams, is accused of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery and other related offenses. Prosecutors said Anthone Williams of Arnold was not related to his accused killer.

Jury deliberations started late Thursday afternoon. After nearly six hours of deliberations, the jury sent out a note saying they were deadlocked. West­moreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears called jurors back into the courtroom just after 9:30 p.m. to instruct them to continue deliberations.

The judge sent them home for the night about an hour later. They are scheduled to resume deliberations Friday morning at 9.

Prosecutors during the four-day trial said Williams was one of two men who ambushed Anthone Williams, who was shot three times during an alleged robbery. Investigators said the plot revolved around an effort to steal money and drugs from the victim.

The suspected murder weapon was found in nearby woods. Investigators linked the gun to Latresse Williams through DNA that was found in inside the gun barrel.

A cellphone was discovered by police inside the vehicle with the shooting victim. The cellphone also contained DNA from Latresse Williams, according to the prosecution.

Williams denied he was the shooter. He testified he sold both his gun and cellphone to another man whom he implicated in the killing.

Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro, Williams also denied a confession police said he gave to his former girlfriend that he fired the fatal shots as part of a robbery plot. He also defended a statement he gave to police in which prosecutors said he never mentioned the identity of the man to whom he sold his gun and phone.

“I was raised to not tell on my friends,” Williams testified. “You’re not supposed to cooperate with police, and I didn’t know I would be charged.”

In his closing argument to the jury, Ciaramitaro said the forensic evidence proved Williams is the killer.

“There are no eyewitnesses because the eyewitness was murdered,” Ciaramitaro said. “He silenced the eyewitness.”

Prosecutors said evidence proved Latresse Williams was in possession of the suspected murder weapon weeks before the killing.

They also suggested the weapon was used in other crimes.

Williams also is facing charges for an unrelated 2019 shooting in New Kensington. Police said he fired shots into a parked van with three women inside and another person outside the vehicle. He faces four attempted homicide charges in that case.

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