PROSECUTOR: Deputy DistrictAttorney Matt Chisholm, Homicide Unit
The Honorable Raoul Thorbourne sentenced Michael Williams to 56 years to life in prison. On June 6, 2019, a jury convicted Williams of the first-degree murder of Tanganyika Williams. The jury also found true that Williams personally used a deadly weapon during the murder. At the sentencing hearing, the court found that Williams suffered a prior strike conviction for shooting with intent to kill.
Michael Williams’ wife, Tanganyika Williams, was planning on ending their marriage. On July 8, 2014, the two were in Michael Williams’ van on 24th Street near Meadowview Road when Williams stabbed his wife twice in the neck and then fled the scene. Mrs. Williams was able to exit the van and identify Michael Williams as her killer to bystanders and police officers. She was pronounced dead 30 minutes later due to massive blood loss. Williams was captured three weeks later when a citizen spotted him and called 911. When Williams was captured, he was planning to take a bus to Oklahoma.
