Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in Torture Death of 10-Year-Old Florida Boy
April 3, 2025
- The Case of Xavier Williams, 10
- Suspects Andre Walker, Kimberly Mills
Tavares, FL — Florida prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Kimberly Mills, 37, and her boyfriend, Andre Walker, 36, in the torture and killing of Mills’s 10-year-old son, Xavier Williams. State Attorney Bill Gladson announced the decision after a Lake County grand jury indicted the pair on charges including first-degree murder, felony first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and related offenses.
According to investigators, Xavier endured nearly two months of escalating abuse between Dec. 24, 2024 and Feb. 20, 2025. Police allege Mills and Walker repeatedly beat him with a dumbbell, boxing gloves, flashlights and a copper rod. They are also accused of duct-taping him to a ladder and dropping 10-pound weights onto his body while his hands were bound above his head.
On Feb. 22, 2025, the couple brought Xavier, unconscious and critically injured, to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children after he was airlifted from Tavares. Medical staff documented extensive bruises and burns in various stages of healing. Detective Doug Roberts testified that doctors also found internal bleeding and signs of possible head trauma, including severe bruising around the eyes.
Investigators said Xavier’s younger brother described a pattern of abuse that often began in the living room before continuing in the garage, where Walker allegedly inflicted additional punishment. Roberts testified that the younger child said he had also been subjected to similar abuse.
Detective Courtney Sullivan told the court that investigators recovered a heavy copper wire believed to have been used to strike both boys on their bodies and heads as a form of punishment.
Police also allege Mills, a registered nurse, deliberately concealed the abuse by requiring the children to wear long sleeves to school. Investigators said she returned home after taking Xavier to the hospital in an attempt to clean the residence, but described the effort as rushed and ineffective.
Xavier never regained consciousness and died from cardiac arrest on March 21, 2025 after spending four weeks in intensive care.
Both defendants waived their initial arraignments and entered written not-guilty pleas through private attorneys. Walker’s attorney, Bryanna Bynum, argued there is no evidence directly linking Walker to the abuse and challenged prosecutors’ reliance on statements made by Xavier’s younger brother.
Walker also sought release on bond, supported by testimony from his estranged wife, Nastassja Walker, who said she had never feared for the safety of their children and that Walker’s family was willing to post a $5,000 bond. Judge Brian Welke denied the request, finding there was substantial evidence supporting the charges and describing Xavier’s injuries as “egregious.”
Outside the courthouse, Xavier’s aunt, Cameil Williams, condemned both defendants and expressed disbelief that a mother could fail to protect her own child. Xavier’s father, who lives in Connecticut, told the media that Mills had stopped communicating with him several weeks before Xavier was hospitalized. The family is arranging therapy for Xavier’s younger brother while preparing for Xavier’s funeral in Connecticut.
Authorities say both Mills and Walker have refused to cooperate with investigators, and additional charges remain possible as the case moves toward trial. Prosecutors contend the medical evidence, physical evidence recovered from the home and witness statements support pursuing the death penalty in what they describe as the systematic torture and murder of a 10-year-old boy.
