Fight between cousins escalated to December 2022 stabbing, witness testifies at 2nd-degree murder trial

A Sioux Valley Dakota Nation man arrived home two years ago to find a woman dying in his living room, he told a southwestern Manitoba courtroom Wednesday.

Naomi Hope Williams, 26, died in the rural Sioux Valley Dakota Nation home of Chad Roscelli in December 2022. Her cousin Rennie Kristyna Williams, 28, is on trial for second-degree murder in her death. Justice Elliot Leven is hearing the trial, which started Monday, in the Court of King's Bench in Brandon.

Roscelli testified Wednesday that the two women, who are both from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, had been in an escalating argument and fight the night Naomi died.

Their fight ended with Naomi lying stabbed and struggling to breathe — but Roscelli did not see a knife or the stabbing, he testified on the third day of the trial.

Roscelli, 53, said he knew Rennie but not Naomi before the two women stopped at his home on the evening of Dec. 9, 2022, to warm up from a walk outside.

Roscelli, his son, his roommate and a friend were watching TV when the two women dropped in and started an argument that escalated into a physical confrontation, he said. 

Roscelli and his friends tried to separate the women, he testified, but the fight continued to become more aggressive. One of the men, Angelo Blacksmith, 39, testified earlier this week that his hand was bitten when he tried to separate the women.

Roscelli took his son to his mother's place nearby to escape the chaos. When Roscelli returned home, the fight was still going on, and he eventually returned to his mother's to ask her to get help.

The second time Roscelli returned home, he found Naomi Williams lying on the floor, struggling to breathe, and there was also blood on the floor, he said.

Rennie Williams came up from the basement and walked away from the house without a word, he testified.

"It seemed like she was whistling quite eerie," Roscelli said. "It was really quiet and cold out and kind of dark and scary."

Jolene Williams, 37, told court Wednesday that Rennie Williams barged into the home of her mother in the early hours of Dec. 10, hysterically crying, "Holy shit, I just stabbed Naomi."

Rennie told Jolene the stabbing was in self-defence and she had thrown the knife in the bush after leaving Roscelli's house, Jolene testified.

They sat in the bedroom Jolene shares with her mother, Natalie Williams, 67, as she listened to Rennie's story.Natalie Williams told the court that Rennie claimed to have stabbed Naomi around three times in self-defence after taking the knife from Naomi. 

Elizabeth Sioux, 28, testified that she spent Naomi Williams' last day with her, calling Naomi a lifelong friend.

Sioux also briefly saw Naomi at Roscelli's house, but Sioux left because Rennie was yelling and she didn't want to be around her, she said.

She saw no knives, alcohol or drug consumption, and no physical altercations at the time, she testified.

The trial continues Thursday. Closing arguments in the case are expected next week.