The Colorado Springs man recently found competent to stand trial for killing a man at a 7/11 in 2022 appeared in court on Friday for his preliminary hearing on a charge of first degree murder.

Tyrek Williams, 23, appeared to court handcuffed to a wheelchair with a spit guard covering his mouth and his attorneys informed the court that they did not wish to proceed with the scheduled preliminary hearing.

Williams’ attorney, John Winegar, informed the court that defense counsel had not spoken to their client since May of 2023, and that even at the courthouse on Friday Williams again refused to speak with him.

Because of the lack of communication, Winegar requested to have the preliminary hearing delayed as he felt he could not adequately defend his client without speaking to him. Winegar was also clearly frustrated by the court’s decision to declare Williams competent to proceed at his previous court hearing.

According to previous reporting from The Gazette, in December Judge Frances Johnson heard testimony from prosecution and defense experts with competing opinions on Williams’ competency and mental health.

According to the defense’s expert, Williams had a family history of “thought disorders” like schizophrenia. Testimony from the jail therapists also made mention of the possibility of Williams having experienced “internal stimuli,” like hearing voices, during visits with staff.

The prosecution called a psychologist contracted with the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo, the state’s coordinator for competency evaluations. Williams’ evaluation was completed in March of last year, reflecting the state’s long-term backlog of court-ordered mental health evaluations.

The state’s psychologist said that their evaluation of Williams pointed strongly to a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, which would not provide cause for Williams to be found incompetent.

The CMHHIP evaluator downplayed the reported symptoms of more serious mental issues, alleging that Williams may have been faking symptoms in order to receive better jail accommodations. She also testified that Williams appeared “rational” and “reasonable” in the 1½-hour-long interview conducted.

Johnson denied the defense’s request to delay the preliminary hearing, where the prosecution called only two witnesses to the stand, both members of the Colorado Springs Police Department

Each witness spoke with the prosecution about the investigation that led to the arrest of Williams for killing Andrew Dominguez, 56, in the Colorado Springs 7/11 in February 2022.

The primary piece of evidence presented by the prosecution was a 20-minute-long video recording of the killing. Judge Johnson opted to watch the video off the bench and not in the courtroom, but Colorado Springs detective Mike Lee stated during his testimony that the video shows Williams striking Dominguez 113 times in total with his feet, fists and a coffee pot. 

Lee testified that the injuries sustained from Williams led to Dominguez’s death at a Colorado Springs hospital several days later.

“(The surveillance footage) is one of the most horrific videos I’ve ever seen,” prosecutor Jennifer Viehman remarked during argument.

During rebuttal, Lee admitted to the defense that Williams stated after the incident that he had attacked Dominguez because he had threatened to shoot him with an assault rifle earlier in the night.

After Johnson completed watching the video of the assault she ruled that the lone charge of first-degree murder faced by Williams was bound over for trial.

In addition to the first-degree murder case, Williams has eight open assault cases in El Paso County, all dealing with alleged incidents within county jail after he had been arrested on suspicion of the first-degree murder.