Man paralyzed in attempted robbery shooting sentenced to life in prison

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A man who was left paralyzed during a 2021 attempted robbery that left another man dead has been handed a life prison sentence for the attack.

Twenty-year-old Jaiden Williams was 17 when he shot Orbit Pough III, 17, on 26 July 2021 in Grayson, Georgia, about 37 miles from Atlanta.

Last week, a Gwinnett County jury found Williams, who is from Buford, guilty of two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit a felony and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to WSB-TV.

Williams met Pough in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store. He wanted to buy a THC vape cartridge from Pough but didn’t have any money at the time. So, he shot him in his side. Pough also had a gun and managed to shoot Williams in the neck, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Pough died in the incident.

Investigators later found barrel contact marks from a shooting that happened at close range, the outlet reported.

Williams had told police that he was riding in a car with him on their way to a drug deal. When Pough started to appear suspicious, he shot him. During the trial, Williams told the jury that he and Pough were friends.

Police disagreed and said the two were strangers to each other.

A judge sentenced Williams to life in prison with the possibility of parole, in addition to five years on probation.

“The victim’s family suffered a tragic loss,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “The defendant was only 17 years old when he took the victim’s life. This sentence will be a long and hard lesson for him to learn from. But we simply cannot tolerate our young people following such violent paths.”

THC vape pens with Delta-9 contents that exceed 0.3 percent are illegal in the state of Georgia.