A Florida man was sentenced Friday to life in prison for killing a woman and burying her in his backyard after he learned she was trying to help his girlfriend get out of an abusive relationship with him.
Nathaniel Slade was found guilty of second degree murder in September in the death of LaDonna Williams, 40, according to State Attorney Melissa Nelson.
At Friday’s sentencing hearing, Williams’ family members spoke about her, saying they wanted her killer to know who she was, WJAX reported.
“My mom was many things,” said Ladaisha Williams, LaDonna’s daughter. “She wasn’t perfect you know but she was our mom.
Her mother had “a lot of life left, kids to finish raising and grandkids to help raise,” she said.
The victim was the mother of three and grandmother of three.
Williams’ decomposing remains were found buried in the backyard of a rental home in April 2022 when the property owner was cleaning up for a new tenant, as CrimeOnline reported. She was last seen in February of that year.
According to Nelson, when police interviewed Slade’s girlfriend, she admitted that he had stabbed Williams, who was Slade’s former supervisor at work, in the the chest and then forced her to help him clean up the crime scene. Evidence and the autopsy corroborated her statements.
Investigators then learned that Williams had been trying to help the girlfriend get away from the abusive Slade.
Slade is already serving a life sentence in an unrelated case, Nelson said. He pleaded guilty in January to attempted first degree murder, armed burglary, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and was sentenced in Februrary.
