Timeline of Events- District Attorney Todd Williams

To comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct, no references are made to pending matters.

• •         January 1, 2015: Sworn in to office as Buncombe County’s 37th District Attorney.

• •         January 8, 2015: @BuncombeCoDA twitter account created

• •         January 23, 2015: Greivin Gustavino sentenced to 125- 159 months for child sex offense 

• •         February 2, 2015: Harley Edwards sentenced to 12 to 19 years for child sex crimes          

• •         February 5, 2015: Randall Carl Thomas sentenced to 20-14 years for two counts of statutory rape           

• •         March 13, 2015: Veterans Treatment Court begins operations       

• •         April 5, 2015: DA Williams publishes op-ed advocating for Child Advocacy Center

• •         April 27, 2015: Jose Gonzalez receives 144 to 233 month sentence for one count of first degree sex offense against a child           

• •         May 2015: First Offender Diversion initiated in Buncombe County

• •         June 30, 2015: Gary Jenkins sentenced to 24 years for second degree murder

• •         July 8, 2015: First ever Buncombe County District Attorney led expunction clinic held. 

• •         July 21, 2015: Michael Dixon sentenced to 225 to 279 months in prison for second degree murder

• •         September 7, 2015: Jorge Martinez sentenced to 228 to 334 months in prison for first degree sex offense against a child

• •         September 22, 2015: Child Advocacy Center opens

• •         September 30, 2015: The DA’s Office agrees to clear 3 innocent men of their involvement in murder

• •         October 28, 2015: First Veterans Amnesty Day held

• •         November 3, 2015: with the victim’s mother’s blessing, William Hedden is sentenced to life without parole for the death of  4 year-old Trenton Michael Scott

• •         November 6, 2015: James Vaughan sentenced to 70-93 months for drug trafficking

• •         February 5, 2016: Laura Meyer sentenced to 70-93 months for trafficking in meth

• •         March 30, 2016: Marlon Boyd sentenced to 88-118 months for selling cocaine

• •         June 3, 2016: second Veterans Amnesty Day offered

• •         June 3, 2016: Maximilian Alexander found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Virginia Senechal July 13, 2015

• •         July 2, 2016: Officer involved shooting in west Asheville

• •         July 25, 2016: AOC stats indicate Buncombe conviction rate for DWI cases among highest in NC

• •         August 3, 2016: Kenneth Lee Davis pleads guilty to armed robbery and sentenced to 117 to 153 months in prison.

• •         August 17, 2016: Family Justice Center opens to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault

• •         August 19, 2016: Nicholas Harding sentenced to 30 years in prison for violent rape

• •         September 2, 2016: DA Williams publishes support for raising the juvenile age

• •         September 21, 2016: Lee Gray pleads guilty to attempted murder

• •         October 4, 2016: Austin White pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in opioid overdose death 

• •         October 6, 2016: Jonathan Clemmons receives a sentence of 127-165 months for habitual felon

• •         October 24, 2016: Leonardo Felicano is sentenced to 192-243 months in prison for night club shooting second degree murder

• •         November 3, 2016: third veterans Amnesty Day

• •         November 15, 2016: Jeremiah Skerkavich sentenced to 60-132 months in prison for statutory sex offense

• •         December 12, 2016: Begin Again Amnesty day held for general public

• •         December 16, 2016: DA Williams releases transparent findings in officer-involved shooting death of Jai Lateef Williams

• •         DA Williams on the importance of transparency

• •         December 30, 2016: Horace Shelton granted pardon of innocence with DA’s consent

• •         February 1, 2017: Christopher Ortega sentenced to 300 -432 months for second degree murder and sexual offenses

• •         February 2, 2017: Kelvin Irabor convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 255-330 months in prison for Ledgewood Village shooting

• •         February 10, 2017: Phillip Davis removed from Death Row after sentenced by all-white jury. “[The] jury selection process serves as a bulwark against bias in the criminal justice system,” Williams said after the hearing.

• •         February 21, 2017: County Commission passes resolution to fund jail alternatives and diversion with DA support

• •         February 27, 2017: Juvenile misdemeanor diversion program developed in collaboration with schools to “raise the age” in Buncombe County

• •         March 12, 2017: Local NAACP President Carmen Ramos-Kennedy declares “a new era has dawned in Buncombe County. Finally, it seems we have a district attorney willing to consider the circumstances of each crime with an open mind, rather than reflexively pushing for the harshest possible punishment in every case.” 

• •         April 11, 2017: John Howard Skerjance sentenced to 14.5 to 52.5 years in prison for possession of child porn

• •         April 16, 2017: DA Williams pens op-ed in support of raising the age and specialty courts

• •         April 27, 2017: Robert Jason Owens sentenced to 59.5 to 74.5 years in prison for the murders of Christie and J.T. Codd and their unborn daughter Skylar

• •         May 9, 2017: Sheryl Pagan Todd sentenced to 50 to 72 months in prison for voluntary manslaughter

• •         May 31, 2017: Alexander Richards sentenced to 180 to 276 months in prison for child sex crimes

• •         June 26, 2017: DA Williams releases statement on Equality Day: “The message should be clear: we will prosecute rape without prejudice for the victims you chose."

• •         June 29, 2017: DA Williams announces that charges will be dismissed against Terry Marzelle

• •         July 22, 2017: DWI convictions in Buncombe County well above state average

• •         August 1, 2017: Robbin Finley sentenced to 90-120 months for trafficking in heroin

• •         August 7, 2017: Buncombe County pilots first in state online ticket reduction program

• •         August 14, 2017: DA’s Community Access Portal www.BuncombeCountyDA.org goes live leading to hundreds of early releases from custody and better coordination with the public and partners in the justice system

• •         August 25, 2017: Mauricus Fleming sentenced to up to 15 years for cold-case homicide and drug trafficking

• •         October 24, 2017: Louie Cochran sentenced to 10 years in prison in the death of Jared Peters after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter

• •         November 6, 2017: Pierre Griffin sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in the first degree murders of Tatiana Diz, Alex King and Uhon Johnson

• •         November 13, 2017: Michael Lee Calloway sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison after escaping from custody the week before