Man sentenced to 45 years for killing girlfriend

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A judge has handed down the maximum penalty to a man convicted of shooting his former girlfriend to death in her own home.

Larry Robert Williams has been sentenced to 45 years in prison Tuesday for the shooting death of Lindsey Graham, who was just 17 when she was shot dead in her Perrine home, back in 2004. "Mr. Williams, you committed a defenseless act for which there is no excuse," said the judge.

After Grahms's family waited eight years for the case to come to trial, they were left outraged that Williams was only convicted of manslaughter though he was originally charged with murder. They had feared he would receive a light sentence as a result of the lower charge.

Grahms's mother, Mary Graham, pleaded to the judge to sentence her daughter's killer to the maximum sentence. "Mr. Williams, you were man enough to get that gun out of your trunk, go around and shoot Lindsey in the dark of the night," said Mary.

Graham was visiting her grandmother when Williams riddled the home with bullets with an AK-47 in a jealous rage.

The victim's mother and many other family members spoke in court. They expressed some sense of relief following the judge's decision. "This doesn't bring Lindsey back, and it's not a win-win for us, for either family, but as I said in my statement, he earned every single day of his sentence," said Graham.

Williams' father, Eddie Harris, gave his apologies to the family. "I'm sorry for the family, and I put my apologies as much as I can put them for the family. I'm sorry for their loss, but we have a loss also," said Harris.

"It was senseless," said Mary. "It was heinous. It was violent. She's such a lovely person. I miss her so much."

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