Guilty Verdict Opens Doors of Emotions for Garcia Family

Henry Don Williams was found guilty of first-degree murder in  Solano County Superior Court Friday afternoon for the shooting of young Fairfield Councilman Matt Garcia.

Garcia was fatally shot Sept. 1, 2008 in a case of mistaken identity.

The verdict led to emotions Matt Garcia's mother has been waiting nearly two years to feel.

"Relief, just relief that it's done that we can move on in some way now," Garcia's mother Teresa Courtemache said.

Even the court clerk got emotional as she read the verdict. Williams sat stone faced as a jury found him guilty of first degree murder for the 2008 killing of  Garcia, a promising young Fairfield City Councilman.

Prosecutors say Williams opened fire on Garcia after mistaking him for a drug dealer who owed his friend $50.

"These are the types of people he wanted to help," Garcia's grandmother Chris Garcia said. "(He) would have given him $50."

She said the verdict does not explain why her grandson had to die.
 
"I never got to ask him why," she said. "Why did you kill my grandson. I guess I'll never get that chance. He's still with me. Not one day I don't wake up and I can see him and feel him"
 

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