Woman Questioned In Shooting Accused In Slashing

(From For the Record, September 6, 1996): 1st Step Services is a privately operated alcohol-free social club in east Spokane. The name and nature of the business were incorrectly reported in a story on page B3 of Thursday’s Spokesman-Review.

A woman being questioned in Sunday’s fatal shooting of a Spokane man is accused of slashing another man with a razor in July.

Carla Jean Williams, 34, was being held in jail Wednesday on an unrelated theft charge.

Detectives said Williams is “a person of interest” in the shooting death of Roy Edward Gant, gunned down about 8 p.m. Sunday while sitting in his Chevrolet Citation near Third and Stone.

Witnesses told police the victim was arguing with a woman in the car seconds before he was killed.

Gant was convicted of second-degree murder in 1976 for shooting a Spokane bartender to death over a $5 wager.

Williams, who is claiming self-defense, hasn’t been charged, police said.

She declined to be interviewed Wednesday.

Williams turned herself over to authorities at the county jail about 4 a.m. Monday while investigators were still gathering clues at the shooting scene.

Police took her to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries before booking her into jail on two outstanding warrants.

Williams was arrested July 11 after a man told police she attacked him with a straight razor at a nightclub on East First.

She is accused of slicing Dominique Stone’s right hand and chest in a fight at the One Step Club.

The two had argued on the street just before entering the tavern, police said. The second-degree assault charge stemming from that incident is still pending.

In April 1995, Williams was arrested on drug charges.

Police suspected she and a man were selling crack cocaine from the Bel-Air Motel, 1303 E. Sprague. The motel manager told detectives Williams and her companion made more than 100 telephone calls from their room and refused maid service during their weeklong stay.

Police found cocaine when they searched the room, but prosecutors later dropped the charges against Williams.

, DataTimes