Prosecutors lay out evidence in 20-year-old murder case of Christina Williams.

Christina Williams grabbed her brother’s Raiders jacket and left her house near Fort Ord to walk the her dog, Greg, while her mother, Alice, napped on the couch. It was just after 7pm on June 12, 1998. About an hour later, Greg was found wandering around in front of the family house, his leash trailing behind him.

Williams, then 13 years old, was never seen alive again. Her remains were found seven months later in a wooded area in Marina less than two miles from her house.

Almost 20 years later, Charles Holifield is facing charges for Williams’ murder with special allegations for kidnapping and lewd acts on a child, as well as a second charge of kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault after sperm with his DNA was found in her underwear. That's according to testimony at a preliminary hearing, in which prosecutors lay out the basis of their case, held in Monterey County Superior Court on Jan. 16, 2018.

In May 2017, Holifield pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Monterey County prosecutors presented their evidence to Judge Pam Butler as Holifield sat listening, shackled at the feet and wearing a white California state prison jumpsuit. Holifield is currently serving a sentence for assault with intent to commit rape and numerous other sexual assaults.

According to testimony by Monterey County District Attorney investigator Tracey Spencer, the family had moved to the the 500 block of Nijmegan Road less than a year before Williams' disappearance.

Prosecutors also called Ronnie Lewis, who was working as a Bureau of Land Management ranger on the former Fort Ord in 1998. On the night of Williams’ disappearance, he was contacted by the Presidio of Monterey police to search Fort Ord with his tracking-trained K-9 unit, using a T-shirt from Williams’ home for a scent. He left the house with his K-9 unit and went down nearby Parker Flats Road, traveling only a few hundred yards before the K-9 unit lost the scent.

Lewis says the FBI was quickly involved and set up a search center with a tip line. Lewis called the Presidio of Monterey department and said they should contact Holifield, who was then in his mid-30s, as he had been convicted of a sex crime at Fort Ord. Lewis has met Holifield twice before, in late 1997, when he was trespassing and illegally fishing in a pond on Fort Ord. During the second instance, Holifield was arrested.

Marina Police Sgt. Jeff Carr picked up the story seven months later, on Jan. 12, 1998. He said a police lieutenant instructed him to go to Imjin Road to meet a woman who had found some possible human remains. She had been walking on Old County Road, about half a mile off Imjin Road and only about 500 yards off the paved road, in a clearing surrounded by dense brush and grass. Carr arrived and saw faded blue jean material and a “long bone,” possibly a femur, and a clump of dark hair. He taped off the area as a crime scene. About 10 yards away from the first remains, skull and torso remains, which included shreds of a striped shirt, a bra and blue jeans, were also found. Branches were laid over the head area. An autopsy revealed no known cause of death.

A forensic dentist was called in the following day to look at teeth; they matched Williams’ dental records.

Then came an 18-year lapse before the next major update. 

According to Spencer, on Aug. 6, 2016, a criminologist with the California Department of Justice re-examined evidence, including Williams’ underwear, for potential DNA. One  sample matched up with Holifield’s DNA—giving law enforcement a long-awaited break in the case.

About a dozen friends and family listened to the testimony in court on Jan. 16. They declined to comment to reporters after the hearing.

“If he is found guilty of these offenses, he is eligible of the death penalty,” said Monterey County Assistant District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni. “The family is very interested in seeing justice prevail.”

This is currently the oldest pending murder case in Monterey County.

“When you involve a child who has been sexually assaulted, it is particularly egregious,” Pacioni said. “It is a very meaningful case to this community and we are going to do our best to follow through.”

Holifield is scheduled to be back in court on Feb. 23 at 8:30am.