Israel Williams

Criminal courts have begun again in the Middle Judicial Circuit, and  District Attorney' Tripp Fitzner took a 2019 murder case to court this week in Toombs County.

In October 2019, the body of Brandon Colson was found burned and buried in the Ponderosa Community outside Lyons. Two suspects, Hollis Bryant and Israel Williams, were arrested and charged. In late 2019, Bryant plead guilty to felony murder and was given a life sentence in the Department of Corrections with the possibility of parole. Williams refused to take a plea, and on Thursday a Toombs County jury found him guilty of malice murder and possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus five years.

"I appreciate the hard work of the Lyons Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation," District Attorney Fitzner, said. "Without their diligence, these individuals would not have been caught and sentenced for their crimes."