The Newton County Eighth District Circuit Court completed its August session last week and convicted armed robber Steve Terrell Williams was among the defendants who were sentenced.
Williams, 32, of Jackson was arrested and charged with the robbery of the Newton BankFirst branch on Nov. 29, 2016.
Williams was also charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Christopher Collins on July 31 to 15 years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
Newton Police Chief Harvey Curry said Williams, who was wearing a mask, entered BankFirst around 2 p.m. Nov. 29, waved a gun and demanded money.
The suspect then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash in a white Nissan Altima, heading north on Hwy. 15 toward I-20. Later that day, he was caught on I-20 by Scott County Deputy Sheriff Derrick Qualls near the 85-mile marker, according to The Scott County Times.
Upon the vehicle being towed back to Newton County and obtaining a search warrant, Curry said they recovered the stolen money and seized an unloaded pistol and the mask.
Three trials ended with acquittals last week.
Christopher Charles Walker was found not guilty on aggravated assault and habitual offender charges by a jury on Aug. 9 after a trial.
Walker, 46, was indicted in May for attacking Christopher Cotton with a machete on Oct. 30, 2016, and for attacking his girlfriend Jessica Weeks on March 7, 2017. Walker was arrested by deputies in March after the attack on Weeks and was also indicted on habitual offender charges having been convicted of three previous felonies in Texas and Newton County.
In 2000, Walker served three years in Bailey County, Texas for assaulting an elderly person, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2005 in Mississippi for possession of cocaine and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2009 for his third DUI arrest.
Also acquitted was Jeff Parks, who a jury found not guilty on gratification of lust charges on Wednesday, Aug. 16. Parks was indicted in September 2016 on charges that alleged that he fondled a 13-year-old girl at his home in Lake on Aug. 29, 2015.
The girl, who was the daughter of a friend of Parks’ family and was a friend of one of his daughters, testified on Wednesday along with her mother. Also testifying for the prosecution were Newton County Deputy Pete Pierman and social worker Stephanie Gill of the State Department of Child Services.
For the defense, Parks testified along with his wife, Danielle, his ex-wife Jana, and one of his daughters.
Parks’ attorney Shawn Harris argued that there were inconsistencies with the statements by the girl, who is now 15.
Sedrick Johnson was acquitted by a jury on charges of burglarizing a dwelling. Johnson was indicted in May for burglarizing the home of Daisy Johnson on Jan. 22. Johnson was also accused of threatening Daisy Johnson and Charles Ray McCory at the home with a gun.
Defendants who also pleaded guilty during the session were:
• Demarco Adroliss Thompson pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and shooting into a dwelling and was sentenced to 10 years in prison a fine of $2,000. Thompson was charged with shooting into the home of Madie Wansley at 1794 Turkey Creek Road, Decatur, on Feb. 15, 2017.
• Robert Earl Hodges pleaded guilty to charges of failure to stop a motor vehicle and being a habitual offender. Collins sentenced Hodges to five years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
• Bruce Dewayne Adkins pleaded guilty to grand larceny, and Collins sentenced him to five years in prison and a $1,000 fine. Adkins was indicted in May for breaking into properties owned by his mother Karen Adkins and Paul Welch in November 2016. Among the items stolen were a hunting scope, a compound bow, two saws, a generator and two ladders.
• Jessica Nicole Hill pleaded guilty to the burglary of a dwelling, and Collins sentenced her to drug court and a $2,000 fine.
• James Michael Gallagher pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and marijuana, and Collins sentenced him to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
• Mary Jane Parker-Rash pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, and Collins sentenced her to the completion of drug court
• Jon Kenneth Skinner pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, and Collins sentenced him to drug court
• Robert Morris Downing pleaded guilty the possession of oxycodone and acetaminophen, and Collins sentenced him to drug court.
