Jayson Williams pleads guilty in fatal NJ shooting
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:28 am
SOMERVILLE, N.J. -Former basketball star Jayson Williams pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault and will serve at least 18 months in prison for accidentally killing a limousine driver in his bedroom, finally closing one chapter in his troubled post-NBA life.
Williams was awaiting retrial on a reckless manslaughter count but pleaded guilty to the lesser count for the 2002 death of Costas Christofi.
Williams remained poised during the hearing and mostly answered yes and no questions, though he did tell the judge that he had not fully checked the gun's safety before snapping it closed.
"I didn't look in the direction the muzzle of the gun was pointed," he said, before admitting that his handling of the gun was reckless.
Williams, who was charged with drunken driving after crashing his SUV into a tree in New York last week, had about 25 stitches visible above his right eye.
Story Link: Jayson Williams pleads guilty in fatal NJ shooting
Williams was awaiting retrial on a reckless manslaughter count but pleaded guilty to the lesser count for the 2002 death of Costas Christofi.
Williams remained poised during the hearing and mostly answered yes and no questions, though he did tell the judge that he had not fully checked the gun's safety before snapping it closed.
"I didn't look in the direction the muzzle of the gun was pointed," he said, before admitting that his handling of the gun was reckless.
Williams, who was charged with drunken driving after crashing his SUV into a tree in New York last week, had about 25 stitches visible above his right eye.
Story Link: Jayson Williams pleads guilty in fatal NJ shooting
