Ken Ritter / Associated Press
Las Vegas Aces WNBA basketball player Riquna Williams makes an initial court appearance Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Las Vegas Justice Court. Riquna Williams was freed from jail Wednesday without bail, a day after her arrest on felony domestic strangulation, battery and other charges alleging that she attacked a victim who authorities described as her spouse.
Published Wednesday, July 26, 2023 | 12:26 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, July 26, 2023 | 5:25 p.m.
Las Vegas Aces guard Riquna Williams faces nine domestic battery charges after allegedly punching, kicking and attempting to strangle her wife for about an hour, Metro Police arresting documents say.
Williams was arrested Tuesday and charged with five felonies, including multiple domestic battery by strangulation, assault constituting domestic violence with the use of a deadly weapon and coercion constituting domestic violence with threat or use of physical force. She also faces four misdemeanors of domestic battery in the first degree, according to court documents.
Judge Rebecca Saxe released Williams from jail Wednesday with no bail. Conditions of the release include staying out of trouble, no weapons and alcohol monitoring, according to court records. A no contact order also was filed and provided to Williams in court. It expires Oct. 25.
The Las Vegas Aces released a statement Wednesday that Williams will be precluded from participating in team activities.
“Our thoughts are with the parties involved in this situation,” The statement says. “We are currently gathering more information, and as such we will not have any further comments at this time."
Williams was suspended for 10 games without pay in 2019 while playing with the Los Angeles Sparks, according to a WNBA release from the time. The release states Williams was involved in a domestic dispute on April 26, 2019, and charged with two felony counts. One count involved Williams threatening someone with a firearm.
Williams signed with the Aces in 2021 and was a member of last year’s championship team. She played with the Sparks from 2017 to 2020.
Williams’ wife told police the basketball player threatened to kill her and then herself during the Tuesday incident.
The couple had been arguing after Williams’ wife said she wanted to break up, the wife told police, according to the report. Williams allegedly took her wife’s phone, tablet, credit cards and identification before leaving for a hotel early in the morning hours.
Williams returned several hours later and logged into her wife’s cloud account and found evidence that convinced her the wife was cheating, the report says.
A second argument started in the couple’s bedroom.
Williams allegedly punched and kicked her wife multiple times, the report says. The wife used her arms to block the punches. She tried to escape, but Williams grabbed her and attempted to strangle her on the bed, the report says.
The wife was then thrown onto the floor where Williams repeated punching, kicking and attempting to strangle her, the wife told police.
“Williams placed both hands around (name redacted) neck and began squeezing, until she could not breathe,” The police report says. “As Williams was strangling (name redacted) she told her, ‘I’ll kill you here and walk to jail myself.’”
At times, Williams used her foot to stomp on the front of her wife’s head and kicked her in the ribs, the report says.
At some point, about an hour into the attack, Williams left the apartment with her phone, the wife says in the report. The wife waited a couple hours before going to a neighbor and asking to use their phone to call family and 911, the report says.
She told police she was unsure if she lost consciousness during the attack.
Officers noted a scratch on her throat, left eyebrow area and right thumb along with swelling in her forehead area.
Police made contact with Williams as she was exiting a gym Tuesday. She told police she was the victim and that her wife had given her two black eyes and a busted lip and requested medical treatment.
She was transported to UMC where medical staff said she didn’t have any injuries that were consistent with her allegations, the report says.
The report also states Williams was inconsistent with her statement about an alleged attack from her wife. She also couldn’t give clear details.
“Williams kept saying whoever calls the police first, the other person goes to jail” the report says. “She then stated she could never trust any police officer and they are taught when they become professional athletes that all police officers are against athletes, men or women.”
