New evidence in 1992 murder lifts hope of exoneration

Sheila Hopkins, 47, had to leave the courtroom when the verdict was read in her brother Willie T. Donald's armed robbery and murder case.

She was pacing the halls when her future husband, Dan Hopkins, approached her.

"He didn't have to say a word," Sheila Hopkins said. "I could see it (in his face)."

The verdict: Guilty.

Dan Hopkins said he was shocked Donald was convicted without physical evidence linking him to the Feb. 27, 1992, shooting death of Bernard Jimenez during a string of armed robberies that night in Gary. Hopkins said the courtroom conclusion led him to believe what happened to his brother-in-law could happen to anyone.

"I was speechless," he said. " I just felt my heart went away."

In an exclusive interview with The Times, Donald's mother, Lillie, and sisters Sharon Douglas, 46, Lashawnda Cooper, 31, Sheila Hopkins and Felicia Ronay, 43, said things never have been the same.

That night, Donald's pregnant sister fainted in the parking lot from shock and stress. She was hospitalized and gave birth two weeks later.

Hopkins said she and her husband tried to hold off their wedding so Donald could attend because they did not think it was possible for him to go to prison. They consider the conviction a mistake and thought it would be straightened out within a few weeks or months.

And now, they finally have reason to hope after an eyewitness recanted and newly discovered evidence emerged.

Donald's original defense lawyer wasn't provided with a prosecutor's notes showing the witness, Rhonda Fleming, had said she wasn't certain Donald was the man who robbed her 17 years ago. Donald's new defense team also has petitioned to gather DNA evidence from the Cubs jacket Jimenez was wearing the night he was slain. And his lawyer has requested a DNA sample from the sister of another suspect who died shortly after the 1992 robbery spree.

The wedding took place without Donald, but Hopkins said he is looking forward to showing him the videos of the event if he gets out of prison.

"He was supposed to be my best man," Dan Hopkins said.

Holidays are hard, said Lillie Donald, 66. The family isn't comfortable having fun without him.

"It's like a part of you is gone," she said. "I know he's still with us, but he's not here to enjoy himself."

His family said Willie T. "Timmy" Donald was a soft-spoken homebody who dated occasionally but enjoyed spending a lot of time with family. His former coworkers at the Goldblatt's Department Store in Gary called him "Timmy Time." He was known as a charmer, they said.

Donald's sisters said, as the only son, he was spoiled. Lillie agreed.

"Basically whatever he said he wanted, I'd try to get it for him," she said.

And if he is released, family members said they will chip in to make his life outside the thick prison walls memorable.

Cooper said she will take Donald to the park to play with his young niece.

Sheila said she wants to take him on an airplane for the first time, even though she does not like to fly.

"I want him to have the opportunity to chose what he wants to be in life," Sheila said. "I would love to see him get married, settle down and have kids."

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