Macon man sentenced for fatal 2022 shooting
Liggins pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and two other charges and is permanently barred from the Macon Judicial Circuit.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A 26-year-old Macon man has been sentenced to 45 years, with 25 years to serve in prison, for fatally shooting a man from the backseat of the victim’s car in 2022.
Deshondre Octavius Liggins pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.
A news release sent Thursday said Tadarius Williams drove his girlfriend from Milledgeville to Macon on April 9, 2022, after her brother, Liggins, called her in distress. Liggins got into the backseat of Williams’ car for the drive back to Milledgeville. Just after 9 p.m., near New Clinton and Millerfield roads, Liggins shot Williams in the back of the head, according to the district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors say Liggins spent the two days before the shooting consumed by paranoia, convinced strangers were stalking him.
Williams’ girlfriend tried to steer the car after he was shot, but it left the road and overturned. The district attorney’s office says Liggins and his sister ran into the woods.
Liggins was taken into custody later that night at a nearby food mart and has remained in custody since then.
“Tadarius Williams got in that car to help someone,” District Attorney Anita Howard said. “He didn’t get out alive.”
Liggins’ attorney asked the court to grant him First Offender status, but the district attorney’s office opposed the request and the court denied it.
As part of his sentence, Liggins is permanently barred from returning to the Macon Judicial Circuit, including traveling through it on Interstate 75, according to the district attorney’s office.
He is also prohibited from possessing firearms, alcohol or unauthorized drugs and from contacting Williams’ family. Liggins must complete a mental health evaluation and comply with any treatment or medication prescribed by a physician.
