Man gets life in prison for murder of Chester City councilman

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WINNSBORO, S.C. — A Fairfield County jury of nine women and three men took less than two hours Thursday to find Christopher Moore guilty in the murder of Odell Williams.

He was then sentenced to life in prison without parole plus five years on a weapons charge.

Moore, 20, is one of five men charged after the shooting death of Williams, 69, in Chester.

Williams was shot in the face on Nov. 4, 2014, on Round Tree Circle.

In April, the same case ended in a mistrial when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Just like he did two months ago, Moore took the stand in his defense Thursday.

He apologized to the family of Williams and tried to convince the jury that he didn't mean to kill him.

"I didn't want to kill Mr. Williams, and I'm sorry Mr. Williams is dead," Moore said. "I never meant to kill him. I was just trying to get away."

That statement is Moore's whole defense.

On the night of the incident, Moore and four friends, who are known gang members, were in a borrowed truck planning to rob another group of people over drug money owed to them.

It was thousands of dollars, Moore said.

The group was all heavily armed and planned to use the weapons to get their money back.

When they discovered the people they had targeted were not home, they went back to the truck, which was parked outside Williams' concrete business.

William' wife called him and told them about the suspicious vehicle there.

Williams arrived as the truck was pulling out of the area and chased them.

They reached speeds of roughly 70 mph, jumped railroad tracks and made several turns.

Williams fired at least two shots from his .38 pistol during the pursuit.

As the chase reached Roundtree Circle, prosecutors said the men came up with a plan to lie in wait and ambush Williams when he drove up behind them.

They said Moore got out of the truck he was in, turned and shot an assault rifle at Williams' car, hitting it six times, with one round striking Williams in the face.
 
However, Moore claimed he was trying to throw away the rifle, opened the truck door, and it fell out of the back seat onto the pavement.
On Thursday, he showed the jury the scars and damage to his elbow and fingers from hitting the ground that night.

Moore said he was running away and fired 18 shots from the gun over his shoulder while looking the other way.

He denied ever aiming at Williams or his Cadillac.

"I felt like my life was in danger," Moore said. "What else could you do?"

Defense attorney William Frick said in his closing argument that if Williams hadn't taken matters into his own hands that night, there would be no murder trial.

"We're here because of what Odell Williams did, not Chris Moore. He was within his rights to defend himself," Frick said.

However, prosecutors pointed out that Moore fired 18 rounds and hit Williams' car six times.

Deputy solicitor Julie Hall clicked the trigger of the murder weapon 18 times in front of the jury, demonstrating how long it might have taken.

Moore initially lied to Chester County sheriff's deputies about his involvement in the incident.

The jury watched a recorded interview Thursday where Moore repeatedly denied having anything to do with it. 

In court, he said he lied, because he wanted to "put it off on someone else."

When the verdict was read, Moore lowered his head and showed no emotion.

The judge sentenced Moore to life in prison.

Moore apologized to the family Thursday in court for killing Williams.