Man gets life sentence for shooting, killing fiancée
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Tirrell Edwards, convicted earlier this month of shooting and killing his fiancée Amanda Williams at their Warrensville Heights home last October, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Gall sentenced Edwards to life in prison with the eligibility for parole after 24 years.
He’ll serve life with eligibility for parole after 15 years on his murder conviction. He’ll also serve an additional nine years for firearm specifications related to his convictions on murder, felonious assault and domestic violence.
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Warrensville Heights police in October responded to the home along Sunset Drive, where Edwards told police he killed his fiancée, 46-year-old Amanda Williams.
Police found Williams with numerous gunshot wounds. She was transported to a hospital, where she was declared dead.
Edwards claimed self-defense, but he gave investigators conflicting accounts of the incident, prosecutors said.
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Williams was a mother and grandmother who worked as a hairstylist. Her pastor R.A. Vernon said the evidence in the case showed “a clear pattern of abuse and manipulation.”
“He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Williams’ brother Joey Lewis told the court. “I’m glad I met him so I can protect my daughter from people like him.”
Williams’ only son Tristan Bentley, 21, in a statement read by a family attorney, said his mother helped him decide to enroll in the U.S. Air Force Academy. Now, she won’t get to see him graduate in 2025.
“I learned a million things from her, even if it was not an intentional lesson. She showed me what a sophisticated woman looked like in this world,” Bentley wrote. “As I grow older and continue further in my life, I realize my life will never be the same.”
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