Tulsa Man Recharged With Murder From 2014 After New DNA Evidence Surfaces

Prosecutors have charged a Tulsa man for the second time after receiving new DNA evidence in a 2014 murder case.

The man, Percy Williams, was initially charged in 2014 for the murder of 56-year-old Helen Johnson, but the case was dismissed to allow for further investigation.

Tulsa’s homicide detectives, known for having one of the highest solve rates in the country, have been re-examining unsolved cases in hopes of making arrests.

Johnson was found stabbed to death in her apartment near 61st and Peoria in 2014. Her body was discovered two weeks after she was killed and was badly decomposed.

"When you have an unsolved case, it kind of eats away at you," said Lt. Watkins, a Tulsa homicide detective. "You don't forget about it, and you keep going back to it, trying to find new ways of approaching it."

A new probable cause affidavit states that Williams was the last person to see Johnson alive. Williams, who had been in and out of prison since 1995 for various drug convictions, was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of Johnson's death. The affidavit indicates the monitor placed him at Johnson's apartment around the time she was killed.

Williams was charged with her murder in 2014, but issues with evidence led to the case being dismissed.

"The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could refile them at a later date because they didn’t have some evidence back in a timely manner," Lt. Watkins explained.

Lt. Watkins and his team reviewed the case, analyzing every detail. They now say they are confident that the DNA evidence will bring justice for Johnson’s murder.

Williams has been charged again with first-degree murder. Detectives noted that this case is one of many cold cases they are currently reviewing.

"Our cold case unit is doing a lot of backtracking on old cases to find out if there is DNA that was forgotten, overlooked, or collected at a time when we didn’t know the DNA was important," Watkins said.

Williams is currently being held without bond in the Tulsa County jail.