A Louisiana man whose excessive facial tattoos caused a stir during his trial last week has been convicted of a 2017 double murder.
William Bottoms Jr., 29, was found guilty Friday of two counts of second-degree murder in the June 2017 killings of Mohamed Sead Hussain, 29, and Dedrick Dewayne Williams, 23, both of Baker, according to WAFB in Baton Rouge. The men's bodies were found abandoned June 1, 2017, in the back seat of a vehicle, shot several times in the head and covered with a sheet.
Credit: St. Helena Parish Sheriff's Department
Credit: St. Helena Parish Sheriff's Department
Bottoms' defense attorney, Jarvis Antwine, last week expressed concern that potential jurors might not be able to see past his client's tattoos, which include devil horns and skull teeth, WAFB reported.
Testimony during the trial indicated forensics linked Bottoms to the crime, the news station said. Jurors also heard from Bottoms’ former girlfriend, Megan Marie Gaylord.
Gaylord, 27, was initially arrested as an accessory in the case, but the charges against her were later dropped.
>> Related story: Twin of man killed by Mississippi cops on trial in Louisiana double homicide
Gaylord, who was driving the car at the time of the killings, told authorities she, Bottoms, Williams and Hussain had used drugs, at which point Bottoms, who was in the front passenger seat, became paranoid. According to the Advocate in Baton Rouge, he shot the men as they sat in the back seat.
An arrest report obtained by the paper indicated that after Williams and Hussein were killed, Gaylord drove to Bottoms' home, where he got bleach and a bedsheet. The bleach was used to destroy evidence and the sheet was used to cover the men's bodies.
Investigators determined that the car in which the men were found had run out of gas around 1:30 a.m. that day in Pride, a small unincorporated community in East Baton Rouge Parish. A deputy stopped to help the stranded motorists, who included Bottoms, Williams, Hussein and Gaylord.
The interaction between them and the deputy was caught on his patrol car's dashboard camera, according to the Advocate.
Sometime after that interaction, Williams and Hussain were killed.
Credit: East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office
Credit: East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office
A crew from an electric company found the men dead in the car, which was parked along the Amite River, later in the day, the Advocate reported.
Bottoms and Gaylord were arrested about three weeks later in connection with the slayings.
At the time of the double homicide, Bottoms had been out of prison just two months after serving time for a heroin conviction, the newspaper said.
Bottoms' twin brother, Lawrence Bottoms, was arrested in Mississippi on weapons charges in August 2017, two months after his brother's arrest for the double murder, according to the Sun Herald in Gulfport. Like his brother, Lawrence Bottoms had several facial tattoos, some matching those of his twin.
Credit: Hancock County Sheriff's Office via AP
Credit: Hancock County Sheriff's Office via AP
Lawrence Bottoms, who once stabbed a 17-year-old repeatedly in the face with a screwdriver, was staying at a home in Bayside Park, Mississippi, on April 29 when authorities tried to serve him with an outstanding warrant from Louisiana.
Lawrence Bottoms, who was on parole in Mississippi, jumped out of a second-floor window after deputies used tear gas to drive him from the duplex, WLOX reported. He led deputies on a foot chase, during which they said he turned and pointed a 9 mm handgun at them.
A deputy fired at Bottoms, killing him, the news station said.
WAFB reported that William Bottoms has spent most of his adult life in prison and had been arrested at least three times in the decade prior to the slayings. At 17, he was arrested for armed robbery and aggravated battery.
In 2014, he was charged with aggravated assault and drug charges, WAFB said.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison but was released early for good behavior.
About the Author
