Pastor’s widower curses killer to life without peace after he pleads guilty to her murder
The widower of the-late United Methodist Church pastor, the Rev. Autura Eason-Williams, cursed the final suspect involved in her killing, Eduard Rodriguez-Tabora, to a life without peace on Monday, after he pleaded to second-degree murder and was slapped with a 20-year prison sentence.
“May you not find any peace and rot in your cell as time moves like a snail and I hope misery keeps you company every day, every hour, every second that you breathe,” Eason-Williams told the 22-year-old Rodriguez-Tabora, who will be deported to his native Honduras at the end of his sentence.
Eason-Williams had joined other family members in court in sharing how the pastor’s murder devastated them, according to WREG Memphis.
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Kristin Williams, the pastor’s niece, told Rodriguez-Tabora how much she lost in the death of her aunt.
“You took someone away who meant so much to me and who poured into my life. Every single day of my 30 years, she poured into my life,” Williams said. “Though I don’t forgive you, I do hope and pray that you get the help that you need.”
The Rev. Eason-Williams, 52, who led Capleville United Methodist Church in Tennessee, was fatally shot in the driveway of her home in Whitehaven during a carjacking just after 4 p.m. on July 18, 2022. Friends say she was on her mobile phone with a colleague when she was attacked.
Two teenagers were charged along with Rodriguez-Tabora for her death. One teen waived his right to a hearing last year and pleaded guilty for his role in the attack on the pastor. He will remain in the care of the Department of Children Services until the age of 19. The second teenager, 16-year-old Miguel Andrade, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 28 years in prison earlier this year.
As with the sentencing of Rodriquez-Tabora, the late pastor’s family members expressed strong words and emotions at Andrade’s sentencing.
Andrade was originally facing a first-degree murder charge for killing the pastor, along with carjacking, aggravated robbery, and possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony, WREG reported. Those charges carried possible maximum penalties of life in prison or the death penalty.
“I hate you to my f---ing gut,” the pastor’s widower told Andrade during his victim impact statement, according to Action News 5. “I have no remorse for you. I wish the worst for you while you’re locked up for 28 years.”
The grieving widower also said he hoped the teenager’s family suffers “the worst pain imaginable” while he's locked up.
“I wish for you to die. I will never forgive you. I hope all your family … feels the worst pain imaginable with you being locked up. But it will never measure up to my pain,” he said, according to Memphis CBS affiliate WREG.
Andrade was charged as an adult in the case, at the request of the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. Investigators said the teenager was wearing an ankle bracelet on the day he shot the pastor due to previous criminal activity. And even after he killed the pastor, the teenager went on to carjack another victim.
Despite the circumstances, Andrade was given bail and allowed to be free until he was sentenced. The late pastor’s widower and other family members were outraged about the situation.
On Monday, Rodriguez-Tabora’s attorney Robert Amann spoke to the pastor’s family after they spoke to his client.
“They were moving and passionate and there are no winners here,” Amann said. “I thought it was important that we empathized with what they were going through.”
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