Facts of the Crime:
Was sentenced to death in 2005 for shooting 24-year-old Maranda Williams, his ex-girlfriend, three times in the back two years earlier.
Around 10:00 a.m. on September 3, 2003, Williams entered a Bi-Lo grocery store in Greenville where his former girlfriend, Maranda Williams, worked. Williams accosted Maranda and forced her into an office in the bakery/deli. Maranda called 911 from her cell phone. During the ninety-minute phone call, hostage negotiators tried to convince Williams to release Maranda. When Maranda attempted to escape Williams chased, shot, and killed her. Hearing the shots, law enforcement entered the store and apprehended Williams. Shortly after his arrest, Williams gave a statement in which he confessed to the crimes for which he was later charged.
Williams was tried and found guilty of murder, kidnapping, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. During the sentencing phase of the trial, the State sought to establish two statutory aggravating circumstances: the murder was committed while in the commission of kidnapping; and (2) the offender by his act of murder knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person in a public place by means of a weapon.
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