Prosecutors say a flower delivery helped lure 17-year-old Jariah Edwards outside before the shooting.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A 21-year-old Arizona man has pleaded not guilty to killing his pregnant former girlfriend and her newborn daughter after prosecutors say he traveled to San Diego, lured the teen outside a vacation rental and shot her.

The case against Trevon Williams began as a homicide investigation in the Bay Park area and widened after the baby, delivered by emergency cesarean section, died about a week later. Williams is charged with two counts of murder and a felony weapons count. Prosecutors have also filed special circumstance allegations that could expose him to life in prison without parole or the death penalty if they are pursued and proved.

San Diego police said the shooting was reported at about 1:10 a.m. May 30 in the 4900 block of Gardena Avenue, where Jariah Edwards, 17, had been staying with relatives during a family trip from Arizona. Officers arrived within minutes and found Edwards unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head. She was about 32 weeks pregnant. Police said officers began life-saving measures before paramedics took her to a hospital, where doctors delivered the baby. “Despite life-saving efforts, the mother died at the hospital,” police said in an initial statement.

Investigators say Williams also came from Arizona but traveled separately. According to prosecutors, he learned Edwards was on the trip, ordered a rideshare to San Diego and had the driver drop him off several houses away from the rental. Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Lorens said in court that Williams hid near the side of the house and used delivery orders to draw Edwards outside. A first delivery of flowers brought Edwards out with a family member, Lorens said. Prosecutors say Williams waited, then ordered a second delivery for a vase. This time, they allege, Edwards came out alone.

The shooting happened outside the short-term rental, police said. Williams then ran toward a nearby canyon, changed clothes and hid, prosecutors allege. Officers found him shortly before 3 a.m. near 4900 September Street and took him into custody without incident. Police said a semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the time of his arrest. The precise chain of evidence linking the gun to the shooting has not been fully laid out in open court, and police have said detectives were still processing the scene and interviewing witnesses after the arrest.

Edwards’ baby girl survived the emergency delivery but remained in critical condition. Police later said the child suffered a severe hypoxic brain injury, meaning the brain was damaged by a lack of oxygen. The child, identified in a later complaint as Riyary E., died at a hospital on June 7. After that death, prosecutors filed a new complaint adding a second murder count. Williams appeared in court again June 16 and pleaded not guilty to the updated charges.

At Williams’ first arraignment, prosecutors said he was the father of the child. Lorens described the shooting as planned and told the court that Edwards and Williams had dated after meeting in Arizona last fall. She said Edwards had blocked Williams’ phone number and was not speaking with him at the time of the killing because of alleged domestic violence and threats. The defense has not had a trial yet to challenge those claims before a jury, and Williams is presumed innocent unless convicted.

Prosecutors also described an alleged recording made after the shooting. Lorens said Williams bragged in an audio message about shooting Edwards in the face. The quote was partly redacted in court reports because of profanity, but prosecutors presented it as evidence of intent and knowledge. Authorities have not released the full recording publicly. Court records and statements reviewed so far do not say who received it or whether that person will testify. The defense has not publicly accepted the prosecution’s account of the recording.

The weapons charge has also drawn attention. Williams is accused of possession of a machine gun, and earlier filings listed allegations connected to an extended magazine and the discharge of a firearm. The complaint and public court accounts do not fully explain the alleged weapon modification. Prosecutors will have to prove the weapons count separately from the murder charges. The case remains in the early stages, with police records, forensic testing, witness statements and digital evidence expected to shape later hearings.

The family’s loss stretched across two states. Edwards was from Arizona and had traveled to California with relatives, turning the San Diego rental into a crime scene during what family members described as a trip before the baby’s birth. Friends remembered her as excited about becoming a mother and said her relationship with Williams had worried people close to her. One friend said Edwards had grown quieter while dating him. Another friend described the alleged flower delivery as a cruel use of a gesture normally tied to care.

In court, relatives of Edwards cried as Williams entered his pleas, according to local reports from the hearing. The new charge tied to Riyary’s death deepened the case’s stakes, turning the prosecution into one centered on two deaths from a single shooting. Prosecutors say the special circumstance allegations include lying in wait and multiple murders. Those allegations raise the possible punishment, though any decision to seek the death penalty would involve further review by prosecutors.

Currently, Williams remains in custody without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 23, when prosecutors are expected to present enough evidence for a judge to decide whether the case should proceed toward trial.

Author note: Last updated June 29, 2026.