CRESTVIEW, Fla. — A Crestview man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison as a result of a negotiated plea agreement with the State to the charge of First-Degree Felony Murder.
Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida, announced yesterday that on May 18, 2022, Jeremiah Murphy entered the negotiated plea agreement.
Murphy was a juvenile at the time he committed the offense.
The victim, Nancy Kirk Williams, 69, of Crestview, was the grandmother of Murphy’s ex-girlfriend.
The State Attorney’s Office said evidence showed that Williams did not approve of her granddaughter dating Murphy, and between May 26 and May 28, 2018, Murphy shot and killed Williams at her home.
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The victim’s mother contacted law enforcement after she was unable to contact her daughter, which led to the discovery of Williams’s body in a detached garage.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed that the fired shell casings on the scene were fired from a .380 pistol, which belonged to Murphy’s parents. Murphy told police that he and an unknown individual planned to burglarize the victim’s home.
After Williams was shot, Murphy stole her vehicle and fled the scene, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Although Murphy was a juvenile at the time of the offense, he was sentenced to serve a minimum 40 years in Florida’s Department of Corrections. Murphy is entitled to a review of his sentence after 25 years due to his age at the time of the offense.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office was responsible for the investigation and Assistant State Attorney Leah Glisson was responsible for the prosecution.
