The Georgia Supreme Court has affirmed the murder convictions of two men convicted in unrelated Augusta homicides.
In opinions released Tuesday, Sept. 20, the state Supreme Court upheld the convictions of Carl Lamont Jones and Erik Williams. The justices found no trial errors requiring a reversal of either conviction.
A Richmond County Superior Court jury convicted Jones of murder in June 2018. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the April 7, 2015, fatal shooting of John Lee Jones, 31, on Third Avenue. The two men were not related.
In the other case, a Richmond County Superior Court jury convicted Williams of murder in August 2020. He was also sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old DeAngelo Hudgins on July 18, 2010.
The 2020 trial was the second time Williams stood trial for murder in Hudgins’ death. Williams was first tried and convicted in 2012. But four years later the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, finding the judge erred when he allowed evidence of a prior terroristic threats case against Williams to be introduced as evidence without first conducting a hearing to determine the evidence’s admissibility.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
