July 17, 2010
Man insists his wife's death was accidental
BY KAUSTUV BASU
FLORIDA TODAY
A Palm Bay man found guilty in May of fatally shooting his wife was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Willie Grant, 57, is likely spend the rest of his life in a Florida prison, although his attorneys said he planned to appeal Judge David Silverman's sentence.
Grant faced a mandatory sentence of 25 years because he was found guilty of second-degree murder involving a firearm.
He showed no outward emotion during the sentencing but glanced several times at his daughters, who sat in the courtroom's spectator galleries.
A victim's advocate read a prepared statement by one of Willie Grant's stepdaughters, Sandra Gowins, before the sentencing.
She said her mother, Linda, was the victim of domestic abuse for several decades.
"No one should have to live in fear. That is exactly how she lived," her statement read. According to Gowins, Willie Grant shot Linda once before in 1993. That time, a bullet hit her mouth and traveled through her neck, but she told police it was an accident.
After Linda Grant was found dead at her Palm Bay house in February 2007, Willie Grant initially told police that she committed suicide. During the trial in May, Grant said his shotgun accidentally went off, leading to his wife's death.
"He has a disease called alcoholism. I witnessed the drinking and the rage all my life," Gowins said.
Grant apologized to his family in the courtroom Friday and insisted the slaying was an accident.
In handing out the sentence, Silverman said Willie Grant dishonored his wife's memory by claiming that she had killed herself. He called his behavior self-serving.
After the sentencing, Grant, who was wearing a jail-issued red jumpsuit, looked back one more time at his daughters, who sat on the benches wiping away tears.
Contact Basu at 242-3724 or kbasu@floridatoday.com.
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