A Georgia man will spend the rest of his life in prison after prosecutors said he fatally shot his wife and tried to kill her 16-year-old son last summer.
Kelvin Demond Williams was found guilty on Thursday, March 26, of first-degree murder in the death of Tenisha Williams and guilty of 12 other counts, including criminal attempt to commit murder, according to the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office.
The jury returned guilty verdicts against Kelvin, 48, within an hour of deliberations, the district attorney’s office said in a Friday, March 27, news release.
Afterward, Superior Court Judge Shannon Wallace handed Kelvin a life prison sentence “without parole plus 100 years and 12 months to serve,” according to the office.
“Over the course of years, [Kelvin] systematically isolated his wife and controlled her movements, even requiring her to wear a Bluetooth device so he could monitor her when she left the home,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachel Ashe, who led Kelvin’s prosecution, said in a statement.
“Evidence showed that on the day of the murder, he had her purchase and load the firearm he would later use to kill her,” Ashe added. “To this day, [Kelvin] has shown no remorse, only indifference and cruelty.”
Kelvin fatally shot Tenisha at a home in Woodstock the evening of July 13, 2025, according to the district attorney’s office.
Home security footage first captured Kelvin shooting at Tenisha’s teenage son, who is his stepson, prosecutors said.
Kelvin aimed at the teen’s head, but missed, according to the district attorney’s office.
Then he fired twice at Tenisha, but also missed her, prosecutors said.
Kelvin turned the gun toward his stepson again and fired a fourth shot, missing him, according to prosecutors, who said the boy then fled to his bedroom.
Then Kelvin cornered his wife in the kitchen as she begged him “not to shoot,” prosecutors said.
He fired one shot, killing her, according to prosecutors.
The district attorney’s office said that the security footage captured Kelvin asking Tenisha, “You dead, [expletive]?”
From inside his bedroom, Tenisha’s 16-year-old son called 911 to report his stepfather had opened fire on him and his mother, according to prosecutors. The teen’s 4-year-old brother was also home during the shooting, but had been asleep during the gunfire.
Authorities ultimately arrived to find Kelvin smoking a cigarette inside of the home, prosecutors said.
“He exited the home after repeated commands and was immediately detained,” the district attorney’s office said in the news release.
Tenisha’s body was found inside the kitchen, where the gun Kelvin used to allegedly kill her was sitting on a kitchen island, prosecutors said.
During Kelvin’s sentencing hearing, family members said that Kelvin had abused and controlled Tenisha for several years, according to the district attorney’s office.
He allegedly would not let her speak with her adult children or go to her mother’s funeral, prosecutors said.
A foster mother caring for Tenisha’s children spoke in court and vowed to “always” be there for Tenisha’s sons, according to the district attorney’s office.
Kelvin was represented by attorney Angela Trethaway, who told PEOPLE that he plans on appealing his sentence.
“And while we understand the state’s position and the judge’s position, obviously we didn’t feel like the maximum sentence was appropriate,” Trethaway told PEOPLE.
District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said in a statement that Kelvin’s sentence “sends a clear message that Tenisha’s life mattered, and that the violence inflicted upon her was evil
and inexcusable.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
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