Charles M. Williams

WARSAW — Today, Tuesday, Jan. 12, was to be the start of a three-day jury trial for Charles M. Williams, 21, 2433 Dugdale Road, Waukegan, Ill. Instead the trial was cancelled and charges of rape, a level 1 felony; and sexual battery, a level 4 felony, have been dismissed, according to Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton.

A co-defendant in the case, Oscar McDowell, who was charged with rape, a level 1 felony; sexual battery, a level 4 felony, is scheduled for a four-day jury trial to begin at 8:30 a.m. May 17 in Kosciusko Circuit Court. He is also facing a failure to appear charge after failing to appear at a court date on Jan. 26, 2015.

Williams was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Sept. 24, 2014, on initial charges of rape armed with a deadly weapon. His charges stemmed from an incident that occurred in the Wyndham Gardens parking lot on Aug. 10, 2014.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on the night of the incident, the victim was in the Warsaw area to attend a rap concert at a local nightclub. After the concert, she went to her car in the hotel’s parking lot and noticed several items had been stolen. She was in the backseat of her vehicle when three males approached and surrounded the vehicle.

The males reportedly forced themselves on the victim, sexually assaulting and choking her, for approximately 30 minutes.

A witness told police she saw four black males around the victim’s vehicle and a crowd of people, further from the vehicle, laughing and observing the incident. She could hear the victim screaming and telling her assailants “no.”

The witness stated a gun was placed to her ribs by one of the males when she attempted to help and was told to “shut up and watch.” Following the assault, the three males got into a bluish SUV and left. The witness took a photograph of the license plate.

The victim was taken to Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Center. Bruising around the victim’s neck, left leg and right arm were uncovered during the investigation.

Warsaw Police determined the SUV was registered to Denise Gordon of Chicago, Ill., but it was reported stolen on Aug. 17, 2014.

The identity of Williams, known as B.C., and McDowell,known as Sinna Sin, was based on photographs from the concert and hotel.