“Kendall Burton was a great kid,” said Williams, who’s built close relationships with all of his players, but especially this affable teen. “I would let him date my daughter, you know, that type of kid. I always tell everybody he was the coach’s son.”
Shaketa Simmons, Burton’s mother, said Kendall felt the same way: “He loved Coach Williams. He would always say, ‘Coach Williams got our back. He would do anything for us.’”
Williams, who understands the grinding poverty that can lead some students astray, has always encouraged his players not to squander the opportunity they’ve earned through sports. But he had struggled in recent weeks to relate that message: Burton was a clean-cut kid who stayed out of trouble and still, his future was taken from him.
Burton’s death devastated the coach and now he found himself summoning the young man, who he picked up every morning before practice, to help keep his teammates on track amid their sorrow.
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“I tell them, ‘You have to carry on, fight hard to be that person you are because your friend is looking at you,’” Williams said. “‘He’s clapping from heaven.’”
Boys to men
A former Pine Bluff football player himself, Willliams, now 40, helped lead some of the most storied teams in the country, including the one belonging to Duncanville High School just outside Dallas: They won back-to-back state championships in the last two years and were ranked 10th in the nation.
But no matter where he worked, he kept an eye on his football roots. He knew Pine Bluff players had talent, but somehow that wasn’t translating into college offers. Williams eventually discovered why: Some didn’t have the grades and none got the exposure they deserved.
Upon taking the coaching job in 2022, Williams immediately installed an academic-focused program: Players would practice in the morning and sit for study hall and tutoring in the afternoon. They would also participate in a character-building program — another of the coach’s initiatives — where they might learn to tie a tie or talk to a judge to better understand the criminal justice system.
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“From Day One, I knew I needed to do something to try to change their grades,” Williams said.
Coach Williams is a godsend and he has a heart for children. Not just sports. I said children. And under his tutelage, they become men.
– Pine Bluff High Principal Ronnieus Thompson
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For the sophomores, juniors and seniors, he built each player’s social media profile on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and alerted the recruiters he’s worked with through the years.
“Once I started sending those things out, it started drawing attention to a lot of the great athletes we have,” he said.
Jonathan Goins Jr., points to supporters during a celebration of his signing a national letter of intent to play football at the college level. (Jo Napolitano/The 74)
Among them: Jonathan Goins Jr., 17, and Landon Holcomb, 18, who both committed to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at the Feb. 7 signing. Chandler Laurent, 18, and who has earned a 4.1 GPA, will play for Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. Makyrin Goodwin, also 18, is headed to Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. All received full or partial athletic or academic scholarships.
Goodwin, who plays both right and left tackle — really anything on the offensive line, is looking forward to the next chapter of his life and thanked his coach for the progress he’s made until now.
“He is the best coach I ever had,” Goodwin said of Williams. “He makes sure we do good in school and everything. He’ll just call and check on you sometimes.”
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Williams himself was an excellent running back — potential NFL material — but didn’t end up making it that far, in part, he said, because his high school coaches, whom he adored, weren’t focused on recruiting. So, he said, he did not have a shot at a big-time college. Instead, he attended Paul Quinn College in Dallas on a partial football scholarship.
And that’s why, when he became a coach himself, he prioritized recruiting, getting his players on the right schools’ radar and making sure they had the grades to be NCAA eligible, which for Division I schools means a GPA of 2.3 or higher in their core classes and 2.2 or better for Division II.
Principal Ronnieus Thompson appreciates Williams’s hard-earned connections and partnerships with colleges and universities. Four of his senior players have been given scholarship offers at DI colleges this school year, including Goins and Holcomb.
Two others penned national letters of intent in December — both to the highly regarded University of Missouri, part of the powerhouse Southeastern Conference and ranked 8th in the country this year. Headed to Mizzou are Courtney Crutchfield, a four-star athlete who was the No. 1 high school football player in the state and number 11th in the nation under Williams’s leadership, and three-star athlete, Austyn Dendy, 17, who is ranked fourth in Arkansas.
Bringing the total headed to college to eight, cornerback Perrea Little signed with DIII Centenary College of Louisiana just this week and wide receiver Marquez Brentley Jr. accepted an academic scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
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Pine Bluff High Principal Ronnieus Thompson
“Coach Williams is a godsend and he has a heart for children,” Thompson said. “Not just sports. I said children. And under his tutelage, they become men.”
‘The person I am today’
The coach describes himself as strict. He doesn’t mind adding some bass to his voice to deliver a point on the field and players who arrive late to 6 a.m. practice will find themselves pushing a 45-pound plate 100 yards before moving on to exhaustive drills.
In his softer moments, he talks to them about family trouble, girl problems and how they sometimes can’t wash their clothes at home because the power has been cut off. In that case, Williams invites them to use the school’s washer and dryer.
“I’ve been poor,” he tells them. “I know how it feels to wake up and there’s roaches in your food or maggots in your rice: You haven’t been through anything that I haven’t been through. But success comes from being a powerful young man and being able to fight through adversity.”
Sometimes, when Williams was a young boy, his own family would lose electricity and the three kids and their parents would all sleep together in the same room to keep warm. And it wasn’t uncommon for him to look out the window, he said, to see his parents picking up cans on the side of the road to afford a 49-cent pack of hot dogs.
“If we were going to play baseball, my mom would go out and search every thrift store to try to find us a glove,” he said. “It may have been old but, you know, we made the best out of it. It helped make me into the person I am today.”
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Emmanuel Hudson, 16, and a defensive tackle, said the coach always comes through for him. He’s given the teen food when he’s hungry and, most recently, a dress shirt for a formal school event: Many come from a small collection Williams keeps in his office in case such a need arises.
“He’s just been so good in my life,” Hudson said. “Like a stepfather, for real.”
It’s the type of support that’s helped him through the loss of his friend, Kendall Burton, who was shot dead Jan. 12 at an intersection close to his grandmother’s house.
The investigation into Burton’s death remains open and Pine Bluff police did not respond to a request last week for an update. Earlier, department spokesman David DeFoor told The 74 police had a suspect in mind but not enough evidence to make an arrest. The department was asking for the public’s help, offering up to a $10,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction.
Simmons credits the entire team for being such a positive part of her son’s life, which was marked by a grave struggle long before he was gunned down: A growth on Burton’s neck when he was 8 was diagnosed as Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
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“Those are his brothers,” Simmons said of his fellow players.
Shaketa Simmons holds a pillow emblazoned with images of her son, Kendall, who was killed Jan. 12. (Jo Napolitano/The 74)
Sitting in her son’s bedroom, which she’s turned into a memorial, his pictures and jerseys hung up on the walls, Simmons said it’s the family’s deep sense of faith that she leans on now that her son is gone. As a child battling cancer, Burton would tell his mother not to worry, that, “God got me.”
“When I think about my boy … I just want to cry, I just want to let loose,” she said. “But most of the time I can’t because the spirit comes to me and says, ‘No, I got Kendall.’ When I hear that, I’m like, ‘OK, OK, I hear you.’”
The new model students
Williams’s father, Micheal Sr., a minister of music, drove a school bus for Pine Bluff for 20 years and had numerous jobs after that. He eventually became a preacher who also sang and played piano at a local church and nearby prison. At one point, he owned a used car lot in Pine Bluff, but his generosity undermined his efforts: A customer with a particularly heart-wrenching story might walk away with a free vehicle, his son said.
His father never saw Williams play when he was younger because he was always working. Now, he never misses a game: He broadcasts them on Facebook. Williams’s mother, Pamela, who became a nurse, remains her son’s biggest fan. Hers is often the loudest voice cheering from the stands. And her son’s spare supply of dress shirts and the like often comes from her, the result of Pamela Williams regularly bargain hunting for those in need.
“She taught me the gift of giving,” Williams said. “They both did.”
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It was that sense of wanting to give back and improve the lives and prospects of young people that drew him home. It’s a notion shared by many: Williams arrived in a city already working hard to bring about positive change.
It opened an enviable $12 million aquatic center in 2019 and has plans to revitalize long-neglected parts of the community, including historic buildings. But perhaps the most life-changing moment for Pine Bluff students will come when the district breaks ground on a new, state-of-the-art high school, replacing a decades-old facility with roofing so decrepit that it rains inside classrooms and hallways.
“The right work is being done,” said Thompson, the principal. “Have we made it all the way there? Of course not. But we are taking those steps in the right direction.”
Thompson credits the coach for being a critical part of this effort, adding that his reach extends well beyond the field: When students struggle in other areas of their life, he’ll call upon their teachers and counselors for help.
“We don’t have trouble with the athletes anymore,” Thompson said. “They used to be some of the biggest knuckleheads. Now, they’re model students and that’s the way it should be. I’m glad that he’s here.”
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Chandler Laurent, 18, who boasts a 4.1 GPA, signed with Hendrix College. (Jo Napolitano/The 74)
Micah Holmstrom, a 10th- and 12th-grade English teacher, said Williams’s mandatory study hall has allowed him to chase down students who were missing assignments or who needed extra help.
“I knew exactly where they were,” Holmstrom said, adding Williams’s emphasis on academics made his work even easier. “Those guys are so comfortable with him and it’s in a place that’s a familiar environment: They’re more willing to sit and hack through some of the difficult stuff than in class.”
Frank Lyles, a math teacher, uses the time to teach kids about complex topics they didn’t understand in class, including parabolas, a U-shape curve whose contours students can find in their own game: Every ball they throw follows a similar arc, illustrating his lesson.
Parents, too, credit Williams for helping their children stay focused. Nicole Dendy, whose son, Austyn, will pursue veterinary studies at Mizzou, said football is her son’s drive.
“Football motivates him,” she said. “So, whatever it takes to get him on the field, that’s what he’s going to do.”
Hudson, the defensive tackle, helped prepare the gymnasium for the college signing day in Februrary. He was overjoyed to see older players recognized for their athletic and academic success.
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“Coach Will and the other coaching staff have been hard on us to put the work in,” he said. “He said, from Day One, whatever we want, we’ve got to earn. So, I feel like we earned it and that’s why we got it.”
Students and staff inflate the Fighting Zebra mascot ahead of a college signing ceremony at Pine Bluff High School. (Jo Napolitano/The 74)
This story first appeared at The 74, a nonprofit news site covering education. Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inbox.
The Arkansas Arts Council’s 37th annual “Small Works on Paper” exhibition opens Friday and remains up through July 26 at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 S. Main St., Pine Bluff. The traveling exhibition showcases two-dimensional artwork no larger than 18-by-24 inches by artists who are members of the Arkansas Artist Registry. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Call (870) 536-3375 or visit artx3.org.
Spa City gallery
Paintings by Steven Wise, nature-based sculptures by Elizabeth Weber, landscape paintings by Dolores Justus and paintings, drawings and sculpture by Mark Blaney are on display, starting with a Gallery Walk reception, 5-9 p.m. Friday and up through July 31, at Justus Fine Art Gallery, 827A Central Ave., Hot Springs. Admission to the reception and the gallery is free. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and by appointment. Call (501) 321-2335 or visit justusfineart.com.
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MUSIC
Symphony string camp
The Delta Symphony Orchestra holds its annual Summer String Camp, open to string students (violin, viola, cello, bass, harp and piano) age 8-15, 9 a.m.-noon Monday-Friday at 701 S. Main St. in Jonesboro. Campers meet daily from for group and sectional instruction sessions with orchestra musicians as instructors, culminating in a friends-and-family recital performance. Cost is $60 with tuition waivers for those in financial need. Space is limited. To register or for more information, visit deltasymphonyorchestra.org/string-camp.
THEATER
‘Footloose’: Pay what you can
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The Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock, is offering up to 100 “pay what you can” tickets to Tuesday’s 7 p.m. preview performance of the musical “Footloose,” on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the theater box office. Call (501) 378-0405 or visit TheRep.org for more information.
DANCE
Community cast auditions
Ballet Arkansas has opened registration for the “community casts” for four of its 2024-25 productions — “Carmen,” “Nutcracker Spectacular” and “Romeo & Juliet,” Aug. 17-18 at Shuffles & Ballet II, 1521 Merrill Drive, Little Rock, and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Aug. 25 at Ballet Arkansas’ studios, 520 Main St., Little Rock.
Registration fee is $30 per audition plus processing fees. There is a production and costume fee of $140-$170 per production for all cast members who receive/accept a role.
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Performance dates for “Carmen” are Oct. 11-13 at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts; for “The Nutcracker,” Dec. 12-15 at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall; for “Romeo & Juliet,” Feb. 13-16 at Robinson; and “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” April 26-27 at the museum.
Deadline to submit registration forms and fees is Aug 15, except for “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which is Aug. 23.
Details on audition requirements, audition times based on age range, rehearsal schedules, acceptance and casting criteria and dress codes are available at balletarkansas.org/community-cast-auditions.
TICKETS
Comedian Danae Hays
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Comedian and country music parodist Danae Hays, billed as “equal parts ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Andy Samberg and Carol Burnett,” performs at 8 p.m. Oct. 5 at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. Tickets are $30.50-$50.50, with $100.50 VIP packages that include a meet-and-greet. Visit Ticketmaster.com.
At least two people were injured, and one person was missing after a pyrotechnics incident at a defense weapons facility in south Arkansas.
The incident occurred at a facility in Camden, about 86 miles south of Little Rock.
The state Department of Emergency Management is monitoring the situation, officials say.
At least two people were injured and another was missing Wednesday after a “pyrotechnics” incident at a defense weapons facility in south Arkansas, the facility’s operators said.
A spokesperson for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems said it happened at its facility Wednesday morning in Camden, located about 86 miles south of Little Rock.
“At this time, we are working with first responders and can confirm the incident resulted in at least two injuries and one missing individual,” Berkley Whaley with General Dynamics said in a statement. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities as they conduct their investigation.”
VIRGINIA HOME EXPLOSION INTENTIONALLY CAUSED BY HOMEOWNER IN 2023: OFFICIALS
The statement did not provide any details on the extent of the injuries. The state Department of Emergency Management said it was monitoring the situation and stood ready to assist but did not provide any additional details.
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At least two people were injured and another was missing on Wednesday after a “pyrotechnics” incident at a defense weapons facility in south Arkansas, the facility’s operators said.(Fox News Digital)
One patient was treated at the Ouachita County Medical Center’s emergency room and is in stable condition, said Diane Isaacs, the hospital’s risk manager. Another patient was transported by helicopter to a facility out of state, she said.
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Isaacs said the hospital has been told to not expect any more patients.
In a major reprieve for former President Donald Trump, sentencing for his hush-money convictions was postponed Tuesday until at least September as the judge agreed to weigh the possible impact of a new Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Trump had been scheduled to face sentencing July 11, just before the Republicans’ nominating convention, on his New York convictions on felony charges of falsifying business records. He denies any wrongdoing.
The postponement sets the sentencing for Sept. 18 at the earliest — if it happens at all, since Trump’s lawyers are arguing that the Supreme Court ruling merits not only delaying the sentencing but tossing out his conviction.
“The impact of the Immunity Ruling is a loud and clear signal for Justice in the United States,” Trump posted on his Truth Social media site after the sentencing was delayed.
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Using all capital letters, he claimed the Supreme Court’s decision netted him “total exoneration” in this and other criminal cases he faces.
There was no immediate comment on the sentencing postponement from Manhattan prosecutors, who brought the hush-money case.
Though the Sept. 18 date is well after this month’s Republican National Convention, where Trump is set formally to accept the party’s nomination for president in this year’s race, it is far closer to Election Day, which could put the issue top-of-mind for voters just as they seriously tune in to the race. Because of absentee voting timelines in certain states, some voters may already have cast ballots before anyone knows whether the former president will have to spend time in jail or on home confinement.
The delay caps a string of political and legal wins for Trump in recent days, including the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and a debate widely seen as a disaster for Democratic President Joe Biden.
The immunity decision all but closed the door on the possibility that Trump could face trial in his 2020 election interference case in Washington before this November’s vote. The timeline in itself is a victory for the former president, who has sought to delay his four criminal cases past the balloting.
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An appeals court recently paused a separate election interference case against Trump, in Georgia; no trial date has been set. His federal classified documents case in Florida remains bogged down by pretrial disputes that have resulted in an indefinite cancellation of the trial date.
Monday’s Supreme Court ruling granted broad immunity protections to presidents, while also restricting prosecutors from citing any official acts as evidence in trying to prove a president’s unofficial actions violated the law.
The high court held that former presidents are absolutely immune from prosecution for actions that fall within their core constitutional duties, such as interacting with the Justice Department, and at least presumptively immune for all other official acts. The justices left intact the longstanding principle that no immunity exists for purely personal acts.
It’s not clear how the decision will affect the New York hush-money case.
Its underpinnings involved allegations that a pre-presidency Trump participated in a scheme to stifle sex stories that he feared would be damaging to his 2016 campaign. But the actual charges had to do with payments made in 2017 to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, who had shelled out hush money on Trump’s behalf. Trump was president when he signed relevant checks to Cohen.
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Trump’s lawyers sought unsuccessfully before the trial to keep out certain evidence that they said concerned official acts, including social media posts he made as president.
Merchan said in April it would be “hard to convince me that something that he tweeted out to millions of people voluntarily cannot be used in court when it’s not being presented as a crime. It’s just being used as an act, something he did.”
When Trump vied unsuccessfully last year to get the hush-money case moved from state court to federal court, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected the former president’s claim that allegations in the hush-money indictment involved official duties.
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” Hellerstein wrote last year.
Hours after Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, Trump’s attorney requested that New York Judge Juan Merchan set aside the jury’s guilty verdict and delay the sentencing to consider how the high court’s ruling could affect the hush-money case. In response, the district attorney’s office wrote that prosecutors did not oppose Trump’s request.
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“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion,” wrote Joshua Steinglass, one of the assistant district attorneys who tried the case against the former president.
Merchan wrote that he’ll rule Sept. 6, and the next date in the case would be Sept. 18, “if such is still necessary.”
In the defense filing Monday, Trump’s attorneys argued that Manhattan prosecutors had placed “highly prejudicial emphasis on official-acts evidence,” including Trump’s social media posts and witness testimony about Oval Office meetings.
Prosecutors responded that they believed those arguments were “without merit” but that they wouldn’t oppose adjourning the sentencing for two weeks as the judge considers the matter.
Trump was convicted May 30 on 34 counts of falsifying business records arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
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Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Trump has repeatedly denied that claim, saying at his June 27 debate with Biden: “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”
Cohen paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.
Trump’s defense argued that the payments were indeed for legal work and so were correctly categorized.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment. Trump is the first ex-president convicted of a crime.
HUSH-MONEY CASE
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While paying hush money is not inherently illegal, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors accused Trump of instructing his employees to lie on company paperwork to hide the nature of the reimbursement.
The district attorney’s case framed the hush-money payment as part of a broader conspiracy by Trump and his allies to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors presented evidence detailing how The National Enquirer, the supermarket tabloid, played a central role in the conspiracy with its catch-and-kill strategy of buying and burying negative stories about Trump and publishing sensational and false ones about his rivals.
“After further briefing on these issues beginning on July 10, 2024, it will be manifest that the trial result cannot stand,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their letter on Monday.
Yet the effort to set aside the conviction might be a long shot. Much of the evidence in the case concerned Trump’s conduct during the campaign and the transition after he was elected but before he was sworn in. Although he was in the White House while signing the reimbursement checks to Cohen, Bragg has argued that doing so was a personal act.
At least one federal judge has already agreed with Bragg. Before the trial, Trump tried to move the case to federal court, arguing that the evidence centered on his official acts as president. But a judge rejected that argument.
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“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” the judge, Alvin Hellerstein, wrote in an opinion last year. “Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president’s official duties.”
Even the Supreme Court ruling on Monday appeared in some measure to discourage Trump’s effort to throw out the jury’s verdict. In a footnote, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that a “prosecutor may point to the public record” to illustrate an argument, a provision that appeared to sweep in much of the evidence that Trump wants thrown out, including his tweets, public statements and personal financial disclosure form.
One aspect of the prosecution’s evidence that might be more vulnerable is testimony from former White House employees recounting meetings and conversations with Trump.
Prosecutors called Madeleine Westerhout, a former director of Oval Office operations, who testified about scheduling a February 2017 visit between Trump and Cohen, a meeting where Cohen says they discussed reimbursement for the hush-money payment.
Prosecutors also questioned Hope Hicks, Trump’s former spokesperson, who testified about her discussion in the White House with Trump after The Wall Street Journal reported in 2018 about the hush-money deal with Daniels.
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“Mr. Trump’s opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election,” Hicks recalled on the stand, testimony that Steinglass referred to during his closing argument as “devastating.”
But it’s unclear whether that conversation could constitute an official act, simply by virtue of where it occurred. And during the trial, Merchan appeared skeptical of the defense’s argument that the prosecution should not question Hicks about that conversation.
“The objection is noted,” he told Trump’s lawyer, before allowing the testimony to proceed.
Information for this article was contributed by Jake Offenhartz, Jennifer Peltz, Michael R. Sisak, Jill Colvin and Eric Tucker of The Associated Press and by Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum, Kate Christobek and Wesley Parnell of The New York Times.
FILE – Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at 180 Church, June 15, 2024, in Detroit. Former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed until Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE – Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump enters at a campaign event, June 18, 2024, in Racine, Wis. Former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed until Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)
FILE – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the media after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, May 30, 2024, in New York. Bragg won’t oppose delaying former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case after the Supreme Court immunity ruling. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
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