By Dawn Wolfe Guttterman
DETROIT – A Wayne County Circuit Court jury found Steven Williams guilty in the January shooting of a man leaving a popular Detroit gay nightclub.
Williams was convicted of assault with intent to do great bodily harm in the attack on Salvagio Vonatti of Windsor as he left Gigi's. The attack, in which Vonatti was shot in the head, left him in a coma.
Sentencing for Williams is set for Aug. 8 before Wayne County Circuit Judge David Allen.
"The verdict is a good result," said Triangle Foundation Executive Director Jeffrey Montgomery, who was present during the entire trial. "Especially since there were bizarre twists in the testimony including the recanting of statements by the only eyewitness."
According to a July 20 report by the Detroit Free Press, it's possible that the witness, Desmond Caine, recanted his original story naming Williams as the shooter because Williams made a threatening gesture toward him at a preliminary hearing. During the Feb. 22 hearing, Williams moved his finger across his throat during Caine's testimony. (See "Gigi's shooting suspect bound for trial" online at www.pridesource.com)
"This horrible assault on Sal Vonatti is one of the most vicious hate violence attacks against our community this year," Montgomery said. "Because of an aggressive prosecutor, the jury still understood that Williams shot Sal after uttering anti-gay slurs.
"The jury saw past the complicated testimony and went to the heart of the matter. We commend the Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the police investigators who worked on this case."
Williams faces a maximum of 12 years in prison.
According to the Windsor Star, Vonatti's family had hoped for Williams' conviction on the more serious charge of assault with intent to
murder.
"That's the logical sentence for the crime," Vonatti's brother, Firas Abouzeki, told the Star. "A headshot is a headshot."
If Williams was convicted of the more serious charge he would have faced a maximum sentence of 39 years, according to the Free Press.
