WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Oahu, Hawaii -- The mother of a little girl who authorities say was abused and killed at
Wheeler Army Airfield housing is in agony, wondering if her daughter could have been saved.
Authorities said Talia Williams, 5, died Saturday after months of abuse by her father and
stepmother.
Williams' mother, Tarshia Williams, is on the mainland. The child was slightly retarded and was apparently killed by
a blow from her father at their home at Wheeler. Williams' natural mother said she has been worried about Talia for
months because her father wouldn't let her speak to her. "I just felt like something wasn't right because no one ever
got in contact with her. No one really talked to her. So, I knew they was hiding her for a reason," Tarshia Williams said.
The Army apartment where Williams died Saturday was surrounded by yellow police tape Tuesday, guarded by MPs as the
FBI searched the home for physical evidence of the beatings, which Naeem Williams and his wife admitted happened almost every
day.
The Williams moved to Wheeler Army housing from Schofield Barracks about a month ago. A neighbor there told KITV 4
News that they had problems with the neighbors there and that Talia Williams was rarely let out of the house to play.
The couple brought Talia to Hawaii in December. By January, her natural mother, from her hometown, was already trying
to complain to the Army that she was being denied court-ordered telephone access to her daughter.
"It just terrifies me and I am so hurt right now that if somebody had try and get in contact with me, she would be
alive today," Tarshia Williams said.
Tarshia Williams said Talia's stepmother, Delilah Sun Williams, would curse her on the phone. She said she recorded
a call when Delilah told her Talia would not be coming home as ordered on July 1.
Tarshia Williams said she remembered her last conversation with Talia.
"She told me that she loved me, she missed me and that she wanted to come back to me and come to my house. She wanted
to sleep in my bed and she wanted me to come get her," Tarshia Williams said. "She was the best thing that ever happened to
me. She was the love of my life. I loved her dearly."
Delilah Williams is in custody, facing a federal murder charge that she contributed to Talia's torture and death. State
Child Protective Services took her baby daughter into foster custody.
Army soldier Naeem Williams is in Army custody. The Army has said nothing about the case.
Delilah Williams worked for Army Community Services, the agency that investigates child abuse in Army housing.
