Salon Owner Sh0t 6 Times By Fiancé Who Recorded Everything | Amanda Williams Case | HO 

On an October night in 2023, inside a quiet home in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, 46-year-old business owner and mother Amanda Sharon Williams was shot six times by a man she had loved, lived with, and planned to marry. Her fiancé, 41-year-old Terrell Lamar Edwards, dialed 911 moments later and told police he had acted in self-defense.

For nearly a month afterward, he walked free.

The police had detained him, questioned him, reviewed his claim, and—because of Ohio’s stand-your-ground statute—released him.

But Amanda had left behind more than memories.
She had left evidence.

Text messages documenting past abuse.
A hospital record from a prior assault.
Photos of injuries she’d hidden for years.
A video Terrell himself recorded during the final argument—footage prosecutors would later describe as “the clearest refutation of his own self-defense claim.”

Twenty-three days after her death, a grand jury issued an indictment.

Four months later, a jury watched the videos—frame by frame.

And in March 2024, they returned with a verdict.

This is the comprehensive account of the murder of Amanda Williams, how her family and community forced the system to act, and how a case that nearly slipped through legal cracks became one of Ohio’s most closely watched domestic violence prosecutions of the decade.

I. WHO AMANDA WAS

Before the headlines, before the legal filings and televised trial, Amanda Williams was a mother, grandmother, entrepreneur, stylist, mentor, and community figure deeply loved in east Cleveland.

Born April 18, 1977, she was raised in a large, tight-knit family. She graduated from Shaw High School in 1995 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University. By 2023, she had built something many small business owners only dream of: a thriving salon—Alamode Styles—in University Heights.

The salon wasn’t just a workplace. It was a community hub.

Clients described her as “part stylist, part therapist,” the kind of person whose warmth lingered long after you left her chair. She launched her own product line—Charma Diamond Hair Extensions and Amanda the Stylist Hair & Scalp Soufflé—products she promoted proudly online, celebrating when they landed on shelves at a local beauty supply store.

She raised two children, Tyler and Tristan, and adored her grandson, four-year-old Tylen. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She produced motivational videos and encouraged younger women to start businesses. She brought humor, stability, and compassion wherever she went.

So when news broke that Amanda had been shot to death—inside her own home, with her daughter and granddaughter downstairs—the shock rippled across Cleveland.

The question everyone asked: How could this happen?

The deeper question: Why wasn’t this prevented?

II. THE RELATIONSHIP THAT TURNED DANGEROUS

To understand the tragedy, investigators reconstructed the history between Amanda and Terrell Edwards.

They had been together six years. On social media, their life looked joyful—birthday tributes, vacations to Las Vegas, date nights, celebratory videos, an Usher concert, and a public proposal attended by family and friends.

But beneath the curated online images was a private reality marked by cycles of tension, apologies, fear, and escalating violence.

The Hidden Assault — 2020

Three years before the murder, in November 2020, Amanda was hospitalized after Terrell kicked her in the face. The injury was serious. Hospital reports documented trauma consistent with blunt force impact.

Amanda told no one the truth.

For days afterward, she wore a face mask—telling friends it was because of COVID precautions. Even her daughter Tyler, who lived in the home, didn’t know she had been hurt.

But Amanda saved evidence.

Two days after the incident, she sent Terrell a message prosecutors would later show to the jury:

“Every time I look in the mirror, I get angry all over again.
To walk around looking like a battered woman is not only embarrassing, but humiliating.
To use your foot to do damage is one of the ultimate signs of destruction.”

Terrell responded:

“I’m sorry for what I did. I hope you feel better.”

Amanda replied:

“It will never be the same.”

Despite this, the relationship continued.

Her family would later say: “We didn’t know what was happening in that house.”

A Pattern of Violence

Court records revealed:

A 2019 arrest involving violence toward Amanda

A 2020 restraining order filed by a different woman alleging stalking and threats

Text messages documenting cycles of conflict followed by apologies

A proposal in early 2023, even as they attended couples counseling

Prosecutors argued that the relationship followed a classic domestic violence arc: tension → abuse → apology → reconciliation → escalation.

Amanda, like many victims, stayed.

And in October 2023, the cycle turned fatal.

III. OCTOBER 9, 2023 — THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BROKE
The Argument Begins

On the day she died, Amanda had just returned from a cosmetology convention in Columbus. Early that afternoon, she didn’t reply to Terrell’s text quickly. The argument escalated. She disconnected his phone service. He activated a new number and continued messaging her.

By evening, they were arguing in the basement—away from her daughter and granddaughter upstairs.

Amanda repeatedly told him to leave.

He refused.

Terrell’s Guns

Before returning inside, Terrell went to his car, removed two guns he owned from Amanda’s nightstand, and locked them in his vehicle.

He later told prosecutors:

“I was worried I was about to use the guns.”

This statement became critical: it suggested that the thought of violence was already on his mind.

The Bedroom Confrontation

The fight continued upstairs in Amanda’s bedroom.

Amanda grabbed a kitchen knife and demanded he leave her house.
She repeatedly told him to get out.

Rather than leave, Terrell pulled out his phone and began recording.

He recorded multiple videos.

The footage, later slowed down and rotated by prosecutors for clarity, captured:

Amanda holding a knife

Amanda setting the knife down

Amanda approaching him without the knife

Terrell reaching under the mattress and retrieving her gun

No verbal warnings

No requests for her to stop

No attempt to retreat

No audible expression of fear

A moment later, gunshots.

Six in total.

Amanda collapsed.

Her daughter, Tyler, called upstairs:

“What happened?”

There was no response from Amanda.

IV. THE 911 CALL — AND A NEAR-MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

When police arrived, Terrell repeated the same narrative:

Amanda threatened him

She came at him with a knife

He feared for his life

He shot in self-defense

Because he invoked self-defense, Ohio’s stand-your-ground law protected him from immediate arrest unless police could disprove his story on the spot.

They could not.

He was held for 48 hours.

Investigators reviewed the limited evidence they had at the time.

Then they released him.

No charges.

No bond.

No restrictions.

Amanda’s family was stunned.

Her mother, Juel Lewis, stood outside the police station crying:

“I have to live the rest of my life knowing I wasn’t there for my baby… She must have been terrified.”

Her daughter Tyler said:

“We don’t feel safe. Something has to happen.”

Her brother Joey pleaded:

“We need justice—she has an army behind her.”

The case seemed to be slipping away.

Then the community intervened.

V. THE COMMUNITY MOVES — A PRESSURE CAMPAIGN BEGINS

Two weeks after Amanda’s death, dozens gathered at a press conference at The Word Church in Warrensville Heights.

Pastor R.A. Vernon, a prominent Cleveland faith leader, stood beside Amanda’s family and sorority sisters.

He described what he saw:

“A pattern of domestic abuse. Abuse, apology, abuse, apology.”

The family hired attorney Ian Friedman, a specialist in victims’ rights under Marsy’s Law.

They presented:

The 2020 text messages

Hospital records

Photos of Amanda’s injuries

Records of past incidents

The audio and video Terrell himself recorded

Friedman told reporters:

“The evidence police had earlier was not the full picture. We are now giving them the full picture.”

The community marched to the Warrensville Heights Police Department.

They demanded the case be sent to a grand jury.

They refused to let Amanda’s death be dismissed.

And within days, the system responded.

VI. THE INDICTMENT

On November 3, 2023—23 days after Amanda died—the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office announced that the case had gone before a grand jury.

Based on:

forensic evidence

digital evidence

the police-car interview

the cell-phone recordings

hospital records

documented prior abuse

The grand jury returned a six-count indictment:

Aggravated Murder

Two counts of Murder

Two counts of Felonious Assault

Domestic Violence

A warrant was issued for Terrell’s arrest.

He turned himself in that afternoon.

Bond was set at $1 million.

Amanda’s family exhaled.
Justice, they hoped, was finally moving.

VII. THE TRIAL — FEBRUARY 2024

The trial began on February 27, 2024 at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.

The courtroom was packed—family, sorority sisters, stylists from neighboring shops, clients, pastors, and dozens who had never met Amanda but felt compelled to support her family.

The Central Question

Both sides agreed on one fact:

Terrell Edwards shot and killed Amanda Williams.

The legal question was singular:

Was it self-defense—or murder?

VIII. THE EVIDENCE
1. The Cell Phone Videos

The prosecution’s most powerful evidence was the video Terrell recorded.

In the first clip, Amanda holds a knife, upset, telling him to leave.

In the second clip, she puts the knife down, walks toward him empty-handed, and reaches for his phone.

In the third, blurred by movement, she is several feet away from him—nowhere near striking distance—when Terrell retrieves her gun from beneath the mattress.

The prosecution paused the video in court.

They showed:

The knife resting on a windowsill

Amanda unarmed

Terrell armed

No verbal warning

No attempt to de-escalate

No expression of imminent fear

Then the shots.

Prosecutors told the jury:

“This is not self-defense.
This is rage.
This is retaliation.
This is murder.”

2. The Medical Examiner

The coroner testified:

Amanda’s wounds were inconsistent with close-range hand-to-hand struggle

She was not positioned where Terrell claimed

The trajectory did not support a lunge or attack

3. Past Domestic Violence

The prosecution introduced:

The 2020 hospital records

The text messages where Amanda detailed the assault

The apology from Terrell

The restraining order filed by another woman

This, prosecutors argued, showed a “predictable pattern of escalation.”

4. Terrell’s Own Words

During the police-car interview, Terrell said:

“What I was worried about is I was about to use the guns.”

To prosecutors, this was devastating.

If he feared he might use his weapons that night, then he recognized the potential for violence long before the fatal confrontation.

Yet he stayed.

IX. THE DEFENSE

Terrell’s attorneys argued:

He feared for his life

Amanda came at him with a knife

She told him he would have to “sleep with one eye open”

He acted in self-defense

They emphasized that the couple had been in counseling and that tensions were mutual.

They argued that the video showed Amanda behaving “erratically,” and that Terrell reacted instinctively.

But prosecutors maintained he had choices he didn’t take:

He could have left

He could have issued verbal warnings

He could have informed her he had a gun

He could have retreated

He could have called police before the confrontation escalated

He did none of these.

X. THE VERDICT

Deliberations began on March 4, 2024.
Hours later, the jury filed in.

Five guilty verdicts:

Murder (guilty)

Felonious assault (guilty)

Domestic violence (guilty)

Firearm specifications (guilty)

Amanda’s family wept.

Her daughter Tyler held her brother’s hand tightly.

Outside the courtroom, Pastor Vernon said:

“We fought.
We prayed.
We pushed.
And the system finally saw Amanda.”

XI. SENTENCING — MARCH 11, 2024

The courtroom was full again.

Amanda’s family gave victim impact statements.

Her daughter Tyler addressed the judge through tears:

“I will never call my mom again and tell her I love her.
I will never tell her about my day.
She didn’t deserve this.”

Her mother, Juel, said:

“I wasn’t there to protect my baby.
I have to live with that.”

Her brother Joey stood beside them:

“She did everything right.
She was loved by so many.
We need to protect women like her.”

The Sentence

Judge sentenced Terrell Edwards to:

Life in prison

With parole eligibility after 15 years

Plus 9 additional years for firearm specifications

Total:

24 years to life

The earliest he could walk free would be in his mid-60s.

Amanda’s family said it wasn’t enough—but it was something.

XII. AFTERMATH: A COMMUNITY RECKONS WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Amanda’s death ignited new discussions across Ohio:

1. Why didn’t she tell anyone?

Domestic violence advocates say victims often hide abuse due to:

Shame

Fear of judgment

Financial dependency

Hope the abuser will change

Worried family will overreact

2. Why didn’t police charge him immediately?

Ohio’s stand-your-ground statute complicated the initial investigation.

If a suspect claims self-defense, police cannot immediately disprove it, they must allow the legal process to play out.

3. What about the children?

Tyler, Tristan, and little Tylen are now reconstructing life without their mother and grandmother.

4. What about the salon?

Alamode Styles closed temporarily after her death. Her clients left flowers, balloons, handwritten cards, and photos on the sidewalk.

A business upstairs displayed a poster:

“Amanda, we love you.”

5. What about the broader statistics?

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence notes:

1 in 2 female homicide victims are killed by intimate partners

96% of murder-suicide victims are women

10 million Americans experience domestic violence annually

Amanda’s case is not an anomaly.

It is a mirror.

XIII. THE LEGACY OF AMANDA WILLIAMS

There are people whose absence is so large it changes the landscape of a community.

Amanda Williams was one of them.

She wasn’t “just a victim.”
She wasn’t “just another statistic.”

She was:

a mother

a grandmother

a sister

a mentor

a sorority sister

a business owner

a friend

a woman who uplifted others daily

Her clients say the world feels quieter without her.

Her sorority sisters say a light went out in Cleveland.

Her family says the pain is permanent.

But they also say one other thing:

“Because we fought, she didn’t die in vain.”

XIV. FINAL REFLECTIONS

The murder of Amanda Williams is not only a crime story—it is a case study in:

the dangers of hidden domestic violence

the legal complexities of self-defense claims

the power of community advocacy

the importance of evidence preservation

and the need for systemic reform

Her family’s persistence changed the outcome of this case.

Their activism turned a near-miscarriage of justice into a successful prosecution.

A mother is gone.
A family is broken.
A community is grieving.

But the truth is on record.
The verdict is final.
And her story is now part of a growing call to action.

Amanda Williams deserved protection.
She deserved safety.
She deserved life.

This investigation is dedicated to her memory—and to every woman whose suffering remains unseen.

Rest in peace, Amanda Sharon Williams.