On Tuesday, March 26, Lattrick Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault in Lincoln County Circuit Court. On Thursday, Judge Michael Taylor sentenced Williams, 31, to 20 years in prison on each count, with 15 years to serve and the balance on post-release supervision, for a total of 30 years to serve in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Williams, of Brookhaven, was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder. Adams said his team offered the defendant an opportunity to plead to the lesser charges, and he agreed. It was a blind plea, the DA said, with no recommendation as to sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Joey Norton and Steven Waldrup. District Attorney Brendon Adams expressed his thanks for the hard work and dedication of these assistants.

“Joey and Steven worked diligently in this case,” Adams said. “From talking with witnesses and researching legal points, these guys put in many long hours and I could not be more proud of the work they accomplished.”

Adams said a number of considerations went into the decision to offer the plea.

“Mainly the fact that former employees with the Brookhaven Police Department had misplaced a key piece of evidence after processing the crime scene, creating a major hurdle to have to overcome,” he said. “I would like to thank all the current investigators with the Police Department that worked to try and help locate the missing evidence, to no avail.”

Incidents such as this are driving factors as to why he is pushing for continued law enforcement training, Adams said.

Officers have reached out and asked for training on collection and processing of evidence that could be used in the prosecution of criminal cases,” he said. “Our office has already begun scheduling training with agencies, one of which [was this week]. This office will continue to provide officers training to help them serve their communities and reach their full potential, while preventing issues like these from happening in the future.”