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Chatham grand jury indicts man for murder, nine months after plea deal for aggravated assault

Drew Favakeh
Savannah Morning News

Chatham County court filings reveal that a 26-year-old man shot and killed another man on May 8 after a hit-and-run accident downtown, just nine months after receiving a plea deal for a 2018 shooting.

On Sept. 28, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Rashad Deshawn Williams on felony murder charges for the shooting death of Ashton Gibbs, 32, on Bull and Broughton Street. Williams also was indicted for aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a first-offender probationer.

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In August 2021, Williams pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault for the Aug. 8, 2018, shooting of Inga Kelly. According to police reports and court transcripts, Williams and Breanna Kelly were arguing when he grabbed a gun from his car and made "threatening statements." Williams then fled in his sister's car and began firing at witnesses, Shamone Reddick and Inga Kelly. Inga Kelly was grazed by a bullet. A Honda was also hit by bullets.

Williams was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal damage to property, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The minimum sentence for the crimes is six years; the maximum is 55. 

Williams was arrested and charged while Meg Heap served as Chatham County District Attorney. But by the time the case moved through the court system, delayed 18 months due to COVID-19 closures and a mounting backlog, Shalena Cook Jones had been elected district attorney.

Williams negotiates plea deal

Williams received, according to court transcripts, what then Assistant District Attorney Casey Ross Blount called a "very lenient sentence" — 15 years, including four years of prison time. Williams had already served three years while awaiting a plea hearing, so he would only have to serve one year in prison. The remaining 11 years, Williams could serve on probation.

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The negotiated plea deal also abandoned a separate charge against Williams for the October 2017 theft of a .40 caliber pistol. Superior Court Judge Benjamin Karpf granted Williams first-offender status. 

In an argument against the first-offender status, Blount argued, "Society would be less safe if he were to walk out of here with his record restricted or under First Offender. I think that's just not something the Court should consider, and if it does consider, you should deny that, Your Honor.

“I don’t usually do that, but in this case, the facts are serious, and the negotiated plea is already a very lenient sentence,” said Blount.

Why Williams was considered a first-time offender is unclear. The DA's Deputy Chief of Communications Nathanel Wright declined to comment, stating that commenting on the plea deal could taint the jury pool for the pending murder trial.

Williams’ attorney and assistant public defender Kaitlyn Elizabeth Walker, though, gave multiple reasons Williams should receive a more lenient sentence and first-offender treatment. He had been incarcerated for a long time — since Dec. 8, 2018, nearly three years. Plus, he had no prior criminal history, she said. 

“I think the First Offender provides him a valuable opportunity," said Walker. "Really, the Court should be, I think, incentivized to give it here because if there is a high level of concern that he may reoffend, as I think the State is alluding to, that will give the Court the opportunity to re-sentence him in the future if he comes back and would have more capacity to re-sentence him and restructure a sentence should he come back.” 

Williams "lucky" for getting plea deal

After negotiating the plea deal and providing him first-offender status, Karpf called Williams “lucky.”

“You're never going to get another chance like this," said Karpf. "You have got to turn it around at this point and make sure that you're not in a situation where you're going to fire a gun out of frustration or anger or whatever it was.”

Nine months after the plea agreement, Savannah Police detectives arrested Williams and charged him with the murder of Gibbs.

Williams’ next court date — a bond hearing — is set for 9 a.m., Oct. 11.

Drew Favakeh is the public safety reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.