20-year-old sentenced to life in Christmas Eve murder

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo of George Williams IV

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – George Williams IV was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of 23-year-old Harold Lee Woodward III on December 24, 2012.

Williams, 20, also received 35 years in prison on a count of armed burglary. These sentences run concurrently.

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Prosecutors say Williams broke into Woodward's Savannah Oaks apartment on Christmas Eve 2012 and stole items from the victim, including money and a gun. The defendant then beat and shot him multiple times before fleeing the scene.

Williams was later arrested on an arrest warrant after investigators found his
fingerprints in the victim's blood at the crime scene.