By LeAnne Rogers
OBSERVER STAFF WRITER
Admitting responsibility for beating and strangling his wife to death nearly a year ago, George Williams was sentenced Wednesday to 20-50 years in prison.
Before sentencing Williams, who pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the death of Sarah Williams, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Craig Strong heard statements from members of her family and also George Williams. About 30 family members and friends, several wearing T-shirts with a picture of Sarah Williams, crowded the courtroom for the sentencing.
“I would like to start by saying that there is nothing I can do or say to take back my actions or I would. I took responsibility for what I did, I've never said that I wasn't guilty,” said Williams, 34, a Livonia resident. “All I ask is that you give me a chance to be rehabilitated.”
Strong noted that Williams had grown up with domestic violence — his father went to prison when Williams was 9 years old for assault with intent to murder and had abused his mother, who had a history of alcohol abuse. Reviewing the pre-sentencing report, Strong also noted that Williams had a severe problem with alcohol most of his life.
“In his own way, the defendant was a success story. He dropped out of school but got his GED. He was trying to make something of himself. He had great positions that showed leadership and hard work,” said Strong. “That night he savagely beat his wife, his rage that he tried to suppress and the alcoholism that wasn't fully treated came out. He did something we all recognize was terrible.”
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Rebecca Camargo read a written statement from Sarah Williams' younger sister Kristy Buchakian describing how George Williams had drunkenly terrorized her family, including Sarah Williams' young daughter Mariah. Sarah Williams, 28, had raised her sister after their mother, Brenda Ramsden, died of scleroderma in November 2002.
Williams constantly accused his wife of being unfaithful, Buchakian said in her statement, when he was actually the one having affairs. She also said that Williams had called to tell her that he had just killed Sarah Williams early Sept. 27, 2009, outside Chatters Bar and Grill where she worked as a barmaid.
George and Sarah Williams had been married about one year at the time of Sarah Williams' murder. She was reported to have been planning to end the marriage at the time she was killed.
Sarah Williams' father, Ed Horn, recalled his daughter as a sweet person who had tried to make a life with Williams, who responded by beating her.
“She was leaving you, you were jealous. If you couldn't have her, no one could,” said Horn. “You've destroyed our family. You should rot in prison.”
Westland Police Chief Alan Ramsden, Sarah Williams' uncle, quoted testimony from the Wayne County medical examiner about the extensive and severe injuries Williams inflicted on his niece. The autopsy report was that Sarah Williams had injuries head to toe including a shattered eye socket, a skull fracture and a liver so damaged it was in pieces.
“I've seen violence, I know what it is. I know there are two sides to each story. The best information often comes from an independent source,” said Ramsden. “These injuries didn't happen instantly. This was a brutally violent murder committed by George against his wife, who was 5-foot-2 and weighed 100 pounds less than him.”
While Strong agreed that Williams had the potential for rehabilitation, he said no one should have to suffer what Sarah Williams went through before she died.
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