TYLER, Texas — The trial of a man accused of killing a Tyler woman who was last seen in April 2023 began Tuesday.
Jesse Lee Williams is charged with murder in connection with the death of Paula Belonga, 51. He was arrested after officials obtained evidence allegedly pointing to his involvement.
Belonga was last seen on April 7, 2023 leaving her apartment complex on Paluxy Drive in her white Chevrolet Impala. According to an arrest affidavit, Belonga's brother told police on April 9, 2023, that she was supposed to pick up her son in Lakes Charles, Louisiana.
Later on, a ping of Belonga's phone showed it was at an address in Tatum. The Rusk County Sheriff's Office located Belonga's vehicle parked next to a single-wide mobile home, the document read.
A woman at the mobile home park told police Williams had Belonga's car off at the home and said he was watching the car and the house for someone who was out of town, the affidavit stated. In a phone call, Williams claimed he had just gotten off the phone with Belonga and she "sounded OK."
He gave deputies a number for them to reach her, but nobody ever answered, the document said.
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Williams pleaded not guilty after the state read the indictment against him.
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Emil Mikkelsen said in opening statements that Paula Belonga recently made Tyler her home in 2023. She had family, friends and workers that she loved. She was known as the apartment grandma to the neighborhood kids.
She would never leave her dog, who was her best friend, alone in her apartment and she would never not come into work without calling her job. Her son was left texting her and wondering what happened as she was supposed to pick him up in Louisiana on April 7, 2023.
The trail led investigators to Tatum, a place that Belonga has no connection to. Her vehicle was found at the home of a woman, who had an on-and-off relationship with Williams, and Williams provided police with a number that is supposed to be connected to Belonga, Mikkelsen said.
The text messages saying that she wanted police to leave her alone and her "friend" Williams alone didn't seem like the way Belonga would speak, according to friends.
Williams claimed that he and Belonga were involved in a robbery together in a police interview, Mikkelson said. He said the state will present cell phone geolocation data showing the path that Belonga's cell phone took on April 7, 2023.
Mikkelsen said Belonga's phone left Tyler, went through Henderson and then reached Tatum at the trailer park where Williams lives. The phone then moved down to Zavalla where her car was later found and the phone stayed there until around 3 a.m. Data shows that Williams' phone took the same path as Belonga's phone.
Her phone was with Williams when he went on a hunting trip in the Henderson area and met up with a different girlfriend, but Belonga herself was not, Mikkelsen said. Once investigators got into his phone, they found Williams searched things, "how do I silence my gun," "dead body found Rusk County," and "how quickly does it take for a body to decompose."
During a search based on Belonga's cell phone location, a search party found Belonga's necklace.
"Jesse Williams tried to commit the perfect murder, and he got pretty close," Mikkelsen said.
Belonga has not been seen in nearly a year and half, and she is gone because she is dead, the state said.
Defense attorney Mishae Boren said that what the prosecution has is not enough to prove that Williams killed Belonga. She said the state is asking the jury to make huge leaps in logic as the case is missing key parts of the puzzle like a crime scene, motive and a body.
The defense is asking the jury to acquit Williams at the end of the trial.
The state played a 911 call made on April 9, 2023 (two days after Belonga was last seen) reporting that Belonga was missing.
A Tyler Police Department officer testified he was in training when he responded to a welfare check for Belonga after her family reported she wasn't where she was supposed to be. The prosecution then showed the officer's body camera footage as he performed the welfare check.
He saw a TV on through the blinds and heard a dog barking from inside. Police contacted the apartment manager to get a key but it didn't work. Belonga's neighbor said they were also worried about her.
The dog left alone and lights on in the apartment were abnormal to the people who knew Belonga, the officer said.
Police learned Belonga was supposed to be picking her son in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and her phone pinged to show it was in Zavalla, which is in the direction of her destination. The officer said that didn't seem suspicious at the time, and he decided to not make forced entry into the apartment.
The officer said he made his initial report and filed a missing person case.
He told the defense he learned Belonga was bipolar around the same time he responded to the welfare check. He said the dog at the apartment was not in distress other than barking and a TV could be on to help a dog with anxiety.
The officer testified efforts were made to locate Belonga, but at the time nothing suspicious was discovered yet. A family member asked to report her missing.
The jury has taken an early lunch and the trial will resume at 1 p.m.