A co-defendant in the murder and robbery of Jasmine Williams, a 19-year-old mother, Natalie Carrington, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday, over three years since the crime took place in July 2020.
Carrington, now 20, was a minor at the time she and five others committed the offense, which included stealing Williams' personal items while her young children were present, according to KSAT, despite Carrington's pregnancy plea, Judge Velia Meza of the 226th District Court deemed a postponement unnecessary and handed down the 15-year sentence for aggravated robbery; this was after Carrington struck a plea deal in May, which ranged from 15 to 25 years in prison.
Carrington's cooperation was pivotal in the re-indictment of the triggerman, Kyle Phillips, with the prosecutor noting, "we would have seven people known to be involved in the murder, the assassination of Jasmine" without her testimony before the grand jury, as KSAT reported. Phillips received 30 years, while the sentence for others varied: Johntavion Sounders with 20 years, Aaron Jackson with eight, and J'Mariah Pope-Williams with five; a sixth defendant, Dorian Morphree, had his capital murder charge dismissed earlier.
Hannah Williams, the victim's sister, conveyed her discontent with the judicial outcomes, "Justice really failed" she lamented about the perceived shortcomings, during the court's proceedings and in the background work by prosecutors, "The judge, the prosecutor –– I feel like he could have did more work, but he came in late," Williams said explaining the sense of a miscarriage of justice surrounding her sister's case," according to an interview with KSAT.
Earlier this year, Carrington had been arrested for driving while intoxicated while on bond for the capital murder charge, this new charge did not impede her ability to strike a plea deal in the original case, as Bexar County court records indicated, her bond for the DWI case was set at $5,000, but due to the arrest while on bond for the murder case, she was held without bond, KSAT revealed.
Another defendant, Alissa Weese, also appeared in court this Wednesday, facing a potentially altered future after Judge Meza rejected her plea deal that would have resulted in deferred adjudication instead of jail time; Weese is now set to return to court next week.
