From: Platte County Prosecuting Attorney "Eric Zahnd"
Date: May 20, 2010
Subject: 45 year sentence for murder, assault
A Kansas City man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison following his second trial for a 2001 murder and assault. Cornelle D. Williams, 29, received the sentence in Platte County Circuit Court on May 20, after a second jury found him guilty of shooting one man and firing two shots at another man in March.
Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said, “Nine years ago, one man died and another came within inches of the same fate at the hand of this defendant. He pulled out a MAC-10, shot one man in the face and tried to shoot another man. Decades in prison is a fitting end to the long process of bringing the defendant to justice.”
Judge Abe Shafer followed the jury’s recommendation of 25 years in prison for second degree murder, 10 years for first degree assault, and 5 years for each of two counts of armed criminal action. Shafer ordered the sentences to run consecutively, resulting in the 45-year prison term. |
Williams' Weapon
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Cornelle Williams
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Prosecutors proved at trial that Williams and his friend, Kevin Johnson, went to a Kansas City wheel and tire store on February 24, 2001, where they met Rusty Clinton, who was an employee. Clinton introduced Williams and Johnson to his best friend, who was at the store and trying to sell some used wheels.
The four men then went to Clinton’s friend’s apartment to purchase the wheels for $300. However, evidence at trial showed that Williams knew Johnson did not intend to pay $300 for the wheels.
Once in the apartment, Williams shot Clinton in the face with a semi-automatic machine pistol and fired two shots at Clinton’s friend. Clinton died, and one of the shots tore through the T-shirt Clinton’s friend was wearing.
Williams and Johnson fled the apartment. Williams was found hours later, hiding in the closet of a relative’s apartment.
Williams was originally found guilty by a Platte County jury in 2002. Prosecutors were forced to retry the case after an appellate court found Williams’ attorney in the first trial ineffective.
Johnson pled guilty to second degree robbery in 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Zahnd said, “Rusty Clinton’s family has had to deal with the grief of his death and the trauma of not one, but two, trials to hold his killer accountable. We can only hope this long prison term will finally give them some well-deserved peace and comfort.”
The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff's Department, with assistance from the Kansas City Police Department. Zahnd and First Assistant Prosecutor Mark Gibson handled the jury trial.
Eric G. Zahnd
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney
415 Third Street
Suite 60
Platte City, Missouri 64079
(816) 858-3476
(816) 858-3472 (fax)
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