Atlanta

Friend of Atlanta Child Murders suspect says 'he'll see freedom'

ATLANTA — Sunshine Lewis showed me the neighborhood where she grew up in southwest Atlanta. It’s also the place where she first met Wayne Williams.

"He was almost, and I don't know if this right to say, he was almost nerdy smart," she told Channel 2's Justin Wilfon.

More than four decades later, Lewis said she’s friends with Williams, even after authorities deemed him Atlanta’s Child Killer.

“I don’t believe he was proven guilty," Lewis said.

Lewis said Williams calls her from prison at least three times a week. And for the first time, she’s sharing Williams' reaction to his case’s big new development, that authorities will take a fresh look at some of the evidence.

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“He talks with I wouldn’t say an excitement in his voice. But it’s more like this is what he’s been praying for and waiting on," she said.

Authorities accused Williams of killing more than 20 children in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981 but he only stood trial in the cases of two adult victims – Nataniel Cater and Jimmy Ray Payne. He was convicted of killing both.

In a recent interview, a retired Atlanta police detective, he told Wilfon nearly all of the evidence in nearly all the cases points to Williams.

“I remember seeing one of the little boys in the morgue. Wayne did that,” Lou Arcangeli said.

But Lewis believes this fresh look at the evidence will point to someone else.

"I think he’ll see freedom. I really do. I really do," she said.

Wilfon reached out to the Fulton County district attorney to find out where this fresh look at the evidence stands. A spokesperson said they have nothing new to report at this time.