Current:Home > MyMan gets 4 death sentences for kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Georgia girl -WealthTrail Solutions
Man gets 4 death sentences for kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Georgia girl
View
Date:2025-04-24 21:40:27
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (AP) — A man who kidnapped, raped and killed a 5-year-old Georgia girl has been given four death sentences for the crime.
Russell County Circuit Court Judge David Johnson handed down the sentence Monday against Jeremy Williams who murdered, raped and brutalized Kamarie Holland in 2021, news outlets reported.
Holland’s mother told police that when she woke up at 5:50 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2021, her daughter was gone and the front door of their Columbus, Georgia, home was open, Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor told reporters. The girl’s body was found late that night at an abandoned home in nearby Phenix City, Alabama where Williams once lived.
A jury found him guilty Friday of four counts of capital murder, among other charges.
Living in Columbus at the time of the murder, Williams raped and strangled Holland after offering her mother $2,500 for Holland to perform oral sex on him, according to testimony given in his trial. Video evidence shown to jurors captured officers finding Holland’s body and of him sexually assaulting the girl. Some jurors began to cry as videos of the assault were shown, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported.
After his conviction, Holland’s father, Corey Holland Sr., urged the judge to order the death penalty for his daughter’s killer.
“His life compares nothing to Kamarie’s,” he told the newspaper.
Several other witnesses talked about the impact the case had on them and offered their opinion of Williams, WRBL-TV reported.
Williams’ ex-wife called him “soulless” and a now-23-year-old woman who was four when Williams allegedly molested her described him as a “monster.”
Taylor told the Ledger-Enquirer this was one of the hardest cases the sheriff’s office has ever had to investigate.
“If there’s ever been somebody that’s deserving of the death penalty its Jeremy Williams,” Taylor said after the sentencing. “He’s another type of evil that we in society just don’t need walking around.”
In addition to the four death sentences, Johnson sentenced Williams to life in prison for production of obscene material of a child and human trafficking; 20 years for conspiracy of human trafficking; and 10 years for abuse of a corpse.
Though he now sits on death row at Holman State Prison in Atmore, authorities said Williams’ execution could be decades away. Russell County District Attorney Rick Chancey speculated it will take a while for the sentence to be carried out.
“At its current pace, I’ll die before he does,” Chancey, who is 55, told the television station. “My life expectancy right now is probably shorter than his.”
Chancey said he visited the little girl’s grave recently and said, “There’s no reason that baby should be in the ground.”
“I want to remember her, not this joker,” said Chancey. “Jeremy is not somebody I want to remember in life.”
veryGood! (55)
Related
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- How EV batteries tore apart Michigan
- France’s sexual equality watchdog says violent porn is sowing seeds for real-world sexual violence
- A Sudanese man is arrested in the UK after a migrant’s body was found on a beach in Calais
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- More than 100 dead, over 200 injured in fire at Iraq wedding party
- Bronny James' Coach Shares Update After He Misses First USC Practice Since Cardiac Arrest
- A Turkish film festival has been threatened by accusations of censorship
- JoJo Siwa reflects on Candace Cameron Bure feud: 'If I saw her, I would not say hi'
- Harry Styles and Taylor Russell Give a Sign of the Times With Subtle PDA on London Outing
Ranking
- Jury selection set for Monday for ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter
- In 'Cassandro,' a gay luchador finds himself, and international fame
- Deion Sanders still winning in Black community after first loss at Colorado
- A Belgian bishop says the Vatican has for years snubbed pleas to defrock a pedophile ex-colleague
- Beware of giant spiders: Thousands of tarantulas to emerge in 3 states for mating season
- Could The Big Antitrust Lawsuit End Amazon As We Know It?
- Sen. Bob Menendez pleads not guilty to federal charges in bribery case
- A Sudanese man is arrested in the UK after a migrant’s body was found on a beach in Calais
Recommendation
Residents in Alaska capital clean up swamped homes after an ice dam burst and unleashed a flood
Brewers clinch NL Central title thanks to Cubs' meltdown vs. Braves
Chelsea Handler Debuts New Boyfriend Over a Year After Jo Koy Breakup
Moose on the loose in Stockholm subway creates havoc and is shot dead
US Open player compensation rises to a record $65 million, with singles champs getting $3.6 million
This year's COVID vaccine rollout is off to a bumpy start, despite high demand
How to see the harvest supermoon
Abduction and terrorism trial after boy found dead at New Mexico compound opens with mom’s testimony