Brick Woman Was Beaten Before She Stabbed Fiance: Attorney

BRICK, NJ — The attorney for a Brick Township woman charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of her fiance says the woman acted in self defense during the incident at the Brick Gardens apartment complex on Sunday.

Ciara Williams, 27, surrendered to authorities on Monday evening accompanied by her attorneys, Alton D. Kenney and Terrance Turnbach, Kenney said by phone late Tuesday afternoon.

"Miss Williams will be pleading not guilty by reason of self defense," Kenney said. He said Williams was beaten by her fiance, Dennis Power, 35, in their Brick apartment.

In addition to bruises and a swollen black eye that were visible in the photo of Williams posted on the Ocean County Corrections website, Kenney said Williams had extensive bruising on other parts of her body.

"Miss Williams had been attacked and beaten by Mr. Power," he said, adding that Brick Township police, who handled the booking, "agreed to carefully document all of the bruises on her body." Kenney said she had bruises elsewhere that could not be seen in the corrections website photo.

Williams' arrest was announced early Tuesday by Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Brick Township Police Chief James Riccio. She turned herself in after an extensive search by law enforcement.

She is accused stabbing Power in the chest during an argument in their apartment on Sunday and then driving him to Ocean Medical Center and leaving him sitting in the vehicle, where hospital staff found him unconscious but breathing. Power was rushed inside and lifesaving efforts were attempted, but he did not survive, Billhimer said.

Williams is charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon, Billhimer said. She is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

Billhimer and Riccio praised the investigators from the prosecutor’s office Major Crime Unit, the Brick Township Police Department and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.

Note: This article has been updated with comment from Alton D. Kenney, Ciara Williams' attorney.

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