WEAVERVILLE — Brenda Williams went to an Internet dating site in search of a relationship, and it’s there she found the man accused of taking her life.
The 42-year-old mother of three tried to break it off when things soured and the stalking started, family members said. He would even show up at her work — unannounced and unwanted, they said.
The final confrontation happened Wednesday morning in the driveway of Williams’ Cedar Hill Road home.
Amber Williams, 16, said she watched in horror as her mother was killed with two blasts from a shotgun.
“I heard arguing, and I looked outside,” she said. “He had that shotgun by his side. He lifted it, and she screamed, ‘No!’ and he shot her in the head. Then he walked up on top of her and shot her again.
“He just got in his truck and left like it didn’t even faze him. He was smiling. It just makes you wonder what kind of wicked stuff is out there in the world.”
Buncombe County sheriff’s deputies charged Danny Dale Gosnell, 40, of Campobello, S.C., with first-degree murder.
Two callers to 911 reported the shooting shortly after 8 a.m.
Using a vehicle description from witnesses, deputies about 15 minutes later stopped a Toyota pickup on a Brevard Road ramp to Interstate 240 in Asheville, Sheriff Van Duncan said.
Gosnell was arrested without incident with help from Asheville police. Officers found a gun in the truck but Duncan declined to describe the weapon.
“We don’t know a lot about the situation, but we do know there had been some conflict between the two,” the sheriff said.
Amber Williams said her mother, a North Buncombe High graduate who worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Weaverville, met Gosnell about three months ago through the dating website Plentyoffish.
Williams said Gosnell began stalking her mother, confronting Brenda Williams at her work, at the grocery store and other locations. She broke off the relationship last Friday.
Gosnell had been waiting outside for the woman Wednesday morning.
“Not even 15 minutes earlier he had called her and said, ‘You haven’t seen the last of me,’” Amber Williams said. “He had it planned. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have called and told her that.”
Also at home at the time of the shooting were Brenda Williams’ other daughter, 19-year-old Amanda Williams, the older daughter’s fiancé, Aaron Tweed, and the victim’s young grandson.
Tweed called 911. He said the woman wasn’t breathing. Screams could be heard on the recording of the call.
“He shot her in the head twice,” Tweed said.
Dana Mullins, who is Brenda Williams’ sister-in-law from a previous marriage, said she received a frantic call from her nieces.
“They said their mother is dead,” Mullins said. “She was a wonderful person. We just can’t believe it.”
A friend of the family, Clayton Casteel, of Weaverville, described Williams as a loving mother.
“She was the kind of person who would help anybody,” he said. “Truly she deserved better than that.”
Amber Williams said Gosnell is an avid pigeon racer and has a 15-year-old daughter.
The website of the Spartanburg County Open Racing Pigeon Club lists him as a member.
Duncan credited fast action by deputies and city officers with quickly capturing the suspect. Two deputies — Sgt. Jim Hickey and Cpl. Trey McDonald — were at a county garage on Hominy Creek Road getting work done on their patrol cars and heard dispatchers make an “attempt to locate” call.
“They got a spare vehicle from the garage, and they were the ones who encountered the vehicle,” Duncan said. “It was very diligent, from all the deputies in that particular area who were working to try to get out there and locate that vehicle.
“I was extremely relieved to know that, No. 1, he was arrested without incident and that we were able to get out there in numbers and get on the highways leading out of the Alexander community and be able to locate this individual before he got out of Buncombe County,” Duncan said.
Also at home at the time of the shooting were Brenda Williams’ other daughter, 19-year-old Amanda Williams, the older daughter’s fiancé, Aaron Tweed, and the victim’s young grandson.
Tweed called 911. He said the woman wasn’t breathing. Screams could be heard on the recording of the call.
“He shot her in the head twice,” Tweed said.
Dana Mullins, who is Brenda Williams’ sister-in-law from a previous marriage, said she received a frantic call from her nieces.
“They said their mother is dead,” Mullins said. “She was a wonderful person. We just can’t believe it.”
A friend of the family, Clayton Casteel, of Weaverville, described Williams as a loving mother.
“She was the kind of person who would help anybody,” he said. “Truly she deserved better than that.”
Amber Williams said Gosnell is an avid pigeon racer and has a 15-year-old daughter.
The website of the Spartanburg County Open Racing Pigeon Club lists him as a member.
Duncan credited fast action by deputies and city officers with quickly capturing the suspect. Two deputies — Sgt. Jim Hickey and Cpl. Trey McDonald — were at a county garage on Hominy Creek Road getting work done on their patrol cars and heard dispatchers make an “attempt to locate” call.
“They got a spare vehicle from the garage, and they were the ones who encountered the vehicle,” Duncan said. “It was very diligent, from all the deputies in that particular area who were working to try to get out there and locate that vehicle.
“I was extremely relieved to know that, No. 1, he was arrested without incident and that we were able to get out there in numbers and get on the highways leading out of the Alexander community and be able to locate this individual before he got out of Buncombe County,” Duncan said.
1 comment:
I am the daughter of the man accused and if you are going to post about what he did, you should ar least get your facts right.
"Williams said Gosnell began stalking her mother, confronting Brenda Williams at her work, at the grocery store and other locations. She broke off the relationship last Friday."
He wasn't stalking her< she was inviting him places< i've seen the texts. Her daughter thinks he was stalking her< but how can you stalk someone who wants you everywhere?
"mber Williams said Gosnell is an avid pigeon racer and has a 15-year-old daughter."
I was 16 at the time, she never meet me.
Anyway, the statements in this report are heavly baised and no one from his side was interviewed.
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