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Witness-Tampering Hearing Postponed In Brandon Slaying Case

Tribune photo by JOSH POLTILOVE

Surrounded by her relatives, Sabrina Mitchell, the sister of shooting victim Karen Williams, said Wednesday that she wants Tyrone Grimes to stay behind bars.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

Updated: 09/03/2008 12:02 pm

TAMPA - Today's hearing on whether Tyrone Lamont Grimes should remain in jail without bail has been postponed.

Grimes drove a maroon Ford Taurus up to a man Thursday morning and stared at him while waving a black semiautomatic handgun in his left hand, then drove off, the man told Hillsborough County deputies. The man was walking with his daughter to a school bus stop, an arrest affidavit states.

Grimes is facing a murder charge in a Brandon nightclub shooting in 2007, and the man he is accused of intimidating is a witness in that case. Grimes, who had been free on bail in the murder case, was arrested Thursday on a charge of tampering with a witness.

A new hearing date likely will be set next week.

Another witness told deputies last week that he saw a man pull up alongside the victim and wave a gun in a threatening manner, the affidavit states.

Grimes' attorney, Ronald Kurpiers II, told the judge today his client is innocent of the tampering charge. Kurpiers said he plans to call witnesses who will say Grimes drove to the location that day to pick up his 7-year-old niece, not to intimidate anyone.

Circuit Judge Daniel Sleet reminded Grimes today not to contact any witnesses.

"Yes, sir, I understood that from the beginning," Grimes said.

On Oct. 17, 2007, Grimes fired several shots from a handgun inside Fluid, a club at 2016 Town Center Blvd., after an argument, said Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

A bystander, Karen Williams, 36, was struck. She died at the scene.

Williams, a mother of three who worked for an insurance company, was a wonderful person with a beautiful soprano singing voice and a great sense of humor, said her sister, Sabrina Mitchell.

"Karen was light and sunshine and laughter and a force of nature," Mitchell said Tuesday. "She was energy."

After today's hearing, Williams' family said they have faith in the judicial process and that Grimes is exactly where he should be.

Mitchell said she believes in her heart that Grimes shot her sister. She asked for more witnesses to come forward.

In a January interview with The Tampa Tribune from jail, Grimes said he was in the club when the shooting occurred but said he never fired a gun. Instead, someone shot at him, he said.

He had been trying to start a music promotion company. The people who fired shots in the club had a record label, he said.

Grimes was arrested Jan. 28. His bail was set at $165,000, and he was released May 17.

Thursday, Grimes, 28, was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and arrested on warrants for tampering with a witness, being a felon in possession of a firearm and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon or firearm, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office jail Web site.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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