
The man who moved to Crystal Lake after being released from prison for raping and murdering a toddler in 1997 has moved to Chicago following outrage from the community.
Cayce M. Williams, 47, was released on February 25 from the Dixon Correction Center after serving almost 24 years in jail and prison, which is around half of his original 48-year sentence.
Williams pleaded guilty to one count of murder and one count of predatory criminal sexual assault in 2006 in Elgin in Kane County.
He had been charged with the death of 20-month-old Quortney Kley, who was his then-girlfriend’s daughter.
Williams’ girlfriend at the time, Margaret Morgan, was at work on February 25, 1997, and the man was tasked with babysitting Quortney and her sister.
Williams sexually assaulted Quortney and beat her to death, prosecutors said. He took the toddler to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Illinois truth-in-sentencing guidelines at the time required anyone convicted of first-degree murder to serve 100% of their sentence.
However, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the law in 1999 because they said it violated a provision of the Illinois Constitution that requires legislation to be limited to a single subject.
Williams only served half his sentence because of that. Illinois later revised the law to make first-degree murder served at 100% of the sentence again.
The Northwest Herald interviewed Williams on February 26 at his new residence at 360 Briarwood Road in unincorporated Crystal Lake, which is his brother’s girlfriend’s home.
A week later, Williams reported his new residence as 6655 South Perry Avenue in Chicago, according to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize to the community here that I bring any discomfort being at this residence,” Williams told a Northwest Herald reporter last month.
“I’m not trying to be a discomfort to this neighborhood, but I also want to get out there that I am innocent of these charges,” he added.
Williams claimed Quortney’s death was an accident and that his confession to detectives was made under “great duress,” the paper reported.
Williams claimed Quortney was lying on a plastic Lego bag when he thought she stopped breathing.
The man said he tried CPR. “I’m not really a small guy, so the pressure I was applying – obviously it was too much,” Williams said. “I don’t know. I was drunk. I was high. In that state, in your panic, I shook her.”
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser told the Northwest Herald that those claims are “not even remotely” true.
Mosser said the forensic evidence doesn’t align with Williams’ account. “I think he’s had 24 years to make it up,” Mosser said, adding that Williams needs to take responsibility for what he did.
After Williams moved to Crystal Lake, neighbors and community members expressed their outrage with him being there.
One neighbor, who lives on Briarwood Road near Williams’ now-former residence, spoke to Lake and McHenry County Scanner last month.
“I can’t tell you how much this has disrupted us (single mom) I want to move but how do you afford to do so first and last month rent plus security,” the woman said, adding that she has two young children.
“How would anyone feel about having a convicted sex offender living next door, but also to add a convicted murderer of a child. Someone who is reformed doesn’t come out and say he is innocent,” the woman told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.