Submitted by

District Attorneys Office, Cordele Judicial Circuit

After just over one hour of deliberation, a Crisp County jury convicted Michael Jerome Williams, following his two-day trial on March 6-7, 2017, for the offenses of Aggravated Assault, Family Violence and Possession of a Knife during the Commission of a Felony. Williams was sentenced to 18 years in the state prison system with 7 years to follow on probation.

The conviction stems from a July 14, 2016, incident at the resid ence of Williams’s long­ time girlfriend and their three children. During an argument between Williams and his girlfriend, Williams’s anger quickly turned to their 18 year old son. Williams then put on a pair of gloves, grabbed a knife from the kit chen, and attacked his son in his bedroom. After a

struggl e over the knife, the son had a 12 cm laceration to his head requiring 15 staples to close, as well as a two to three inch laceration to his shoulder.

Once the son and his mother fled the scene, the son collapsed from his blood loss at his grandparents’ home. Deputies from the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office respond ed, including Deputy John Harvey and Investigator Linda Pritchett. Williams was repres ent ed by defense attorney Shawn Hoover; Assistant District Attorney Whit ney B. Conkling handled the prosecution for the State; and the case was heard before the Honor abl e Chief Judge Robert W. Chast een, Jr.