Double homicide suspect was hired at CSULB despite criminal record, administrator placed on leave

A high-ranking Cal State Long Beach administrator was placed on leave days after a former employee she was accused of having a romantic relationship with showed up “disgruntled” at her office, triggering a police search before he allegedly killed two relatives hours later in Compton.

An Associated Students Inc. hiring committee was unaware that Jamie Jajuan Williams, 43, had a violent criminal record when he was employed as an equipment technician in October 2017, campus officials said Friday.

Williams left the position “of his own accord” in March, they said, the same month that an employee raised concerns that he and Vice President of Students Affairs Carmen Tillery Taylor were engaged in a relationship — something she denied.

On Friday, police gave reporters a timeline of Williams’ visit to the campus Sept. 28, hours before he was seen running naked from a home in Compton after allegedly opening fire on his family, killing his stepfather and teenage stepsister, authorities said. The girl’s mother was wounded.

Sheriff’s deputies detained Williams that night and he was later charged with capital murder and attempted murder.

In interviews with police, some witnesses who encountered Williams over a three-and-a-half hour period on campus described him as “anxious,” but none said he was threatening, said Detective Chris Brown.

“At no time did any employee indicate that Williams threatened them or saw him with a weapon,” he said.

According to police, Williams arrived on campus at 9 a.m. He was late for a scheduled meeting with Facilities Management to follow up on a job application.

When he was told he would have to return a few days later for an electronic fingerprint scan, he began complaining about his “frustrations on campus,” Brown said.

Williams went to University Police, where he spoke with a dispatcher about the live scan, then to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and the University Student Union, according to the timeline.

Finally, at 11:25 a.m., Williams entered Brotman Hall, where he spent more than a half-hour airing his grievances at the president’s suite, the Student Affairs office and the Title IX office, mentioning Taylor, but not asking to see her, police said.

Taylor expressed concern about Williams, but about his frustrations, not from a public safety perspective, Brown said.

A Student Affairs employee called police, saying Williams left and was probably headed to the Daily 49er student newspaper office to “tell his story,” Brown said.

A search of the campus by about 10 officers turned up empty.

“It’s important to point out we were not advised of any of this until about a quarter ‘til 1 p.m.,” said Lt. Rick Goodwin.

Later that night, Taylor informed a University Police officer working at an off-campus fundraiser that Williams had been arrested, Brown said.

Taylor did not return a call from a reporter and a man who answered her phone said she would not likely discuss the matter.

CSULB spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh said Taylor was placed on paid leave on Tuesday, but that she could not say what led to the action because it was a personnel matter.

She confirmed, however, that an employee raised concerns in March to President Jane Close Conoley that Taylor may be having a relationship with an employee.

“President Conoley asked the VP if this were the case, and the VP said no,” Carbaugh said.

Conoley “had no reason not to believe her,” she said.

Carbaugh said she did not know whether Williams left his job before or after the concern was brought up.

“A lot of the details are under review,” Carbaugh said.

Campus officials declined to discuss details of Williams’s hiring, citing personnel matters.

Police said they had no prior contact with him.

Court records show Williams pleaded guilty to burglary and attempted robbery in 1999 and was sentenced to six years in prison. In 2001, he pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

It is unclear how long Williams was behind bars before his release and hiring at CSULB.

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation public information officer declined to disclose Williams’s time served, saying he needed clearance from investigators handling the homicide case, despite it being unrelated to the past convictions.