Williams is offering insanity in a death-eligible first-degree case. That is a defense, not a verdict.

Not guilty by reason of insanity is a complete defense if the jury buys it. Prosecutors can concede mental illness and still argue she knew right from wrong. Vickie Williams, 50, is on trial in Lake County this week on two first-degree murder counts and grand theft auto in the Dec. 31, 2022 deaths of Darryl Getman, 83, and Sharon Getman, 80, at Waterman Village in Mount Dora. She has pleaded not guilty. A death-eligible first-degree file is still a charging theory until the verdict.

The defense theory is psychosis. In openings, public defender Amanda Sizemore told the panel Williams allegedly believed the Getmans would rape and kill her children. That is what the defense asked the jury to hear. It is not a medical finding, and it is not a finding of fact. Prosecutors are trying premeditation. They have said they can accept that she has a mental illness and still argue she knew the acts were wrong. Conceding illness is not conceding the NGI verdict. Knowing right from wrong is the fight in the box.

The State’s trial proof, as reported, includes kitchen-knife stabbings; DNA on knives, a beer bottle, and a partially eaten brownie; a claim she washed clothes at the scene; and a flight in the couple’s green Kia Soul to Savannah, Georgia. Fuller Blue Jr. testified she laughed and said she had bought a new car. A daughter, Brittany, identified jewelry Williams wore at arrest as Sharon’s. Residents said she was in the community Dec. 30–31 asking another person to shower; a panic button was involved. Each of those items is evidence a jury may weigh. None of it is a verdict.

The State rested around Sept. 16. Defense mental-health testimony continued. The trial was set to resume Tuesday. Death is a possible penalty if she is convicted of a death-eligible first-degree count. That is exposure. It is not a sentence, and NGI, if the jury accepts it, is a commitment track — not a street walk. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.