State, defense tell different stories about death of 15-year-old Robert Willis

As the murder trial of Robert Wills began Tuesday, the prosecution and defense told similar stories about how 15-year-old Whitney Lake died earlier this year.

However, as they began to talk about why she died, their stories varied greatly.

Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska told jurors Tuesday afternoon that the explanation is simple. Wills, a 39-year-old married man, was caught in a compromising position with a 15-year-old girl near the end of a dead-end road in the evening hours of Jan. 26, ran from sheriff’s deputies at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour and then crashed, throwing Lake from the vehicle and killing her.

But Wills’ attorney, Michelle Berthiaume, said Lake’s death was the result of “jumping to a conclusion and bad judgment on all sides.”

During Berthiaume’s opening arguments, she said Wills and Lake had been hunting in the woods on a cold, damp January day last year, and had returned to Wills’ truck to change clothes when a Houston County Sheriff’s deputy approached. She said Wills reacted out of fear because the deputy did not identify himself, and he did not know that the man shining a spotlight and flashlight into his truck was a law enforcement officer.

So Berthiaume said Wills fled toward his home on Judge Logue Road. When he saw blue lights flashing in his rear-view mirror, he tried to stop, but skidded on the wet pavement, onto the damp soil on the road’s shoulder, into a bridge and then into a nearby stream.

Valeska said testimony will indicate Wills was traveling around 80 miles per hour when he struck the bridge. The posted speed limit is 45.

Berthiaume said Wills plans to take the stand in his own defense and take responsibility for Lake’s death, but Berthiaume said his actions did not rise to the definition of murder.

Testimony begins today in front of Circuit Judge Ed Jackson. A visit to the scene of the crash is also planned.