The pastor’s widower curses the killer, sentencing him to life in prison without peace

Leonard BlairSenior Reporter Tuesday, October 1, 2024

The widower of the late United Methodist Church pastor, the Rev. Autura Eason-Williams, on Monday placed a curse on a life without peace on the last suspect involved in her murder, Eduardo Rodriguez-Tabora, after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years prison.

“Don’t find peace and rot in your cell as time moves like a snail, and I hope misfortune keeps you company every day, every hour and every second you breathe,” Eason-Williams told 22-year-old Rodriguez: Tabora, who after After serving his sentence, he will be deported to his native Honduras.

According to WREG, Memphis Eason-Williams joined other family members in court and shared in court how the pastor’s murder devastated them.

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Kristin Williams, the pastor’s niece, told Rodriguez-Tabora how much she lost after her aunt’s death.

“You took away someone who meant so much to me and who influenced my life. She poured into my life every day for 30 years,” Williams said. “Even though I don’t forgive you, I hope and pray that you get the help you need.”

The Rev. Eason-Williams, 52, who led the United Methodist Church in Capleville, Tennessee, was fatally shot in the driveway of her Whitehaven home during a carjacking on July 18, 2022, just after 4 p.m. Friends say she was talking on her cell phone with a friend when she was attacked.

Two teenagers, along with Rodriguez-Tabora, were charged in her death. Last year, a teenager waived his right to a hearing and pleaded guilty to his role in the attack on a pastor. He will remain in the care of the Children’s Department until he is 19 years old. The other 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 Rodriquez-Tabory verdict, family members of the deceased pastor expressed strong words and emotions regarding the Andrade verdict.

Andrade was originally charged with first-degree murder for killing the pastor, as well as auto theft, aggravated robbery and possession of a firearm during a dangerous crime, WREG reports. These charges carried a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty.

“I fucking hate you,” the pastor’s widower told Andrade during his victim impact statement, according to Action News 5. “I don’t feel bad for you. I wish you all the worst since you have been locked up for 28 years.”

The grieving widower also expressed hope that the teenager’s family would suffer the “worst pain imaginable” while he remains locked up.

“I wish you were dead. I will never forgive you. I hope your whole family… feels the worst pain imaginable while you are locked up. But that will never measure 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 determined that the teenager was wearing an ankle bracelet on the day he shot the pastor in connection with previous criminal activity. Even after he killed the pastor, the teenager hijacked another victim’s car.

Despite the circumstances, Andrade was released on bail and allowed to remain free until his sentencing. The deceased pastor’s widower and other family members were outraged by the situation.

On Monday, Rodriguez-Tabora’s lawyer Robert Amann spoke to the pastor’s family after speaking with his client.

“They were moving and passionate, and there are no winners here,” Amann said. “I thought it was important for us to empathize with what they were going through.”