Former NBA star Jayson Williams was sentenced to five years in prison this morning for fatally shooting a hired limo driver in 2002. He will be eligible for parole in 18 months, reports the AP.
Jayson, avoiding a retrial on a reckless manslaughter count that deadlocked the jury at his 2004 trial, pleaded guilty last month to aggravated assault in the death of Costas Christofi on Feb. 14, 2002. At the same 2004 trial, he was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter but convicted on four counts of covering up the shooting.
Williams was accused of recklessly handling the shotgun that killed the 55- year-old Christofi and then trying to make the shooting look self-inflicted. He asked his guests to help him in the cover-up.
On the night of the shooting, the 55-year-old Costas had driven Jayson and several of the basketball player's friends to Jayson's New Jersey mansion after taking them to a local restaurant.
He said at his plea hearing last month that he gave the group a tour of the house and showed them his gun collection in his bedroom. While showing off a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun, he admitted, he failed to check the safety mechanism and inspected only one of the two barrels before snapping it shut.
The gun fired, striking Costas once in the chest and killing him. Witnesses testified that Jayson tried to cover up his involvement by initially placing the gun in Christofi's hands and instructing those present in the bedroom to lie about what happened.
Since 2002, Jayson has been charged with drunken driving and tried faked a suicide attempt.
source
0 comments:
Post a Comment