Violent repeat offender gets 25-year prison sentence

The man responsible for stabbing and tasing a man in the victim’s Pelion home before stealing his car and then robbing a truck stop in Gilbert was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday.

James Lee Williams, 30, pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, 11th circuit solicitor Rick Hubbard said in a news release.

Williams had been out of prison four months when, on the night of Jan. 18, 2016, he broke into a home on Fox Trot Trail in Pelion, stabbed and tased the victim, stole his car and fled.

At 4 a.m. the next morning, Williams was caught on surveillance video threatening the cashier at the 44 Truck Stop at 2120 Pond Branch Road in Gilbert with a knife and stun gun. The robber, who fled in a black Honda Civic with $300 in cash, was wearing a black hooded jacket, black bandana and striped gloves.

Williams was caught a short time later when the car he was riding in led officers on a 2.5-mile, high speed chase before crashing into a tree on Harvey Berry Road. The driver died on the scene. Williams had on the black hooded jacket and bandana and was carrying a folding knife and pink-stun gun, items that tied him to both the Pelion attack and Gilbert armed robbery, Hubbard said.

Williams had served eight years of an 11-year sentence in Richland County for armed robbery and kidnapping, Hubbard said.

This story was originally published June 20, 2017 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Violent repeat offender gets 25-year prison sentence."