LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — A Henderson man faces several charges, including kidnapping, after police said he held a woman against her will for several weeks and made her lie to police after a family member reported her missing, documents said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8 at around 12:30 p.m., officers with the Henderson Police Department responded to the parking lot of a grocery store in the 4600 block of East Sunset Road after dispatchers received a call from a woman who said she was held against her will for several weeks.
The victim told police that she met Willie Genaro Williams, 36, several years ago when she worked at the store adding Williams would flirt with her and attempt to get her to watch his two children, which she refused, according to an arrest report.
The woman told police she moved to another state for a year, but when she moved back to Nevada in September 2023, Williams began contacting her, documents said.
Williams took the victim out on a date and the victim told police she thought there was a possibility of a romantic relationship with Williams because of his “manipulative behavior” and began living with Willie at a rental house, documents said.
Williams would have the victim watch his children “every day and night,” but would not give the victim any money for babysitting, the report stated. She told police that he would manipulate her to not leave the house or the children and would threaten to hurt or kill her if she left.
The victim told police she later learned that Williams was a pimp and may have conducted “other illegal business activities,” according to the report.
In late September, the victim attempted to leave Williams while he was out of town on a business trip. She told police she was saving all of the cash she found in the laundry for about a year. She also said she knew Williams tracked her location from her phone, so while he was on the airplane, she left and checked into a hotel, the report stated.
When he got back into town, Williams texted her “threatening things” and told the victim he knew what hotel she was in and convinced her to meet him in the parking lot. He then took her phone away from her.
The victim told police she did not want Williams to have her phone, but she was afraid of him. She tried twice to jump out of the vehicle, but he grabbed her and pulled her back into the car, locking it to stop her from leaving.
At one point, while in the hotel grabbing the victim’s belongings, Williams strangled her. Officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the incident but were not able to contact Williams for an arrest, documents said.
The victim told police Williams took all of her belongings from the hotel room in order to “control” her and get her to move back in with him. She stayed at the hotel for a few more days before going to a friend’s house, where Williams showed up and demanded she leave with him.
She said she was in “so much fear” of Williams hurting or killing her that she got into his vehicle. Inside the vehicle, Williams told her that “she knows too much about him, his family, and his life” and that if she got away from him, he would kill her, the report stated.
A few days after the victim’s attempt to leave, a family member reported her missing. Police went to Williams’ home looking for her, but Williams made the victim and his children hide and pretend no one was home until police left. Williams then anonymously called police saying the victim would meet officers, documents said.
The victim told police that Williams made her meet with officers and say she was okay and did not need any help. She said Williams parked nearby and watched her talk to police and she was afraid Williams would hurt or kill her if she said anything, officers said.
She said Williams installed “at least three” surveillance cameras on the house and showed her that he could see them on his phone “so she could not leave him again,” documents said.
On Oct. 8 at around 10:30 a.m., the victim left the house while Williams was at his parole and probation appointment. She told police she assumed he would be arrested for the domestic battery strangulation case when he arrived at the meeting, the report stated.
She told police she found where Williams hid her phone and shut off the location sharing on it before leaving where the cameras could not see her and taking a rideshare to the grocery store parking lot where she met with police.
Williams is also known by the alias “Michael Walker,” and was previously arrested for felony charges in Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and Florida, police said.
On Oct. 10, the HPD SWAT team went to Williams’ residence in the 2000 block of Tremont Avenue, near Seven Hills Drive and Sunridge Heights Parkway, they said. After about 30 minutes of announcements, phone calls, and texts asking Williams to leave the residence, police “explosively removed” the front door from the residence and were able to take Williams into custody.
Child Protective Services took Williams’ children, whose ages were not listed, into custody following Williams’ arrest.
Police booked Williams into the Henderson Detention Center on the following charges:
- Three counts of kidnapping in the 1st degree
- Three counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person
- Two counts of child abuse or neglect
- Two counts of coercion
- Labor trafficking
- Obstruction
According to court documents, Williams posted bail, which was set at $13,000, and was next expected in court on Oct. 31. He was told to have “no contact with the victim by any means whatsoever.”
For a list of local and state resources for domestic violence and abuse victims, visit this link .
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