Man Gives Up in Slaying of Ex-Wife

A man suspected of fatally shooting his ex-wife outside her Altadena home and injuring a neighbor turned himself in to authorities late Monday night.

Brett Williams, 41, who shared custody of his two children, had brought them to his former wife’s apartment about 8 p.m. Monday, and the parents began to argue, said Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Peavy.

When Williams allegedly began to beat Joanna Williams, 42, the children fled to the street and she followed, Peavy said.

Williams allegedly “chased her through the complex and shot her,” Peavy said. She was hit at least once in the upper body. The children were unharmed.

When a neighbor, Catherine Beck, 51, entered the courtyard of the apartment complex in the 800 block of East Mendocino Street, Williams allegedly shot her and fled, Peavy said.

Joanna Williams died at a nearby hospital. Beck was treated and released.

That night, Brett Williams surrendered to Pasadena police, apparently at the urging of his father. He was transferred to the Sheriff’s Department’s custody and booked into Central Jail on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.