Contract killer gets decades for 4 Philadelphia murders

Steven M. Williams (Pennsylvania Attorney General).

In Pennsylvania, a man has been sentenced for his role in murdering four men for cash in less than the span of a year from late 2018 to mid 2019. Steven M. Williams, 30, must spend more than 40 years in prison, according to authorities in a report from CBS News.

He pleaded guilty back in December to three counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. According to the state’s attorney general’s office, he had a role in four men shot to death in Philadelphia:

• William Crawford, 35, on Sept. 8, 2018 in the 1900 block of Hartel Avenue
• Jermaine Simmons, 39, on Feb. 10, 2019, in the 7500 block of Forest Avenue in West Oak Lane
• Richard Isaac, 31, on March 25, 2019, in the 100 block of East Meehan Street in Mount Airy
• Leslie Carroll, 39, on May 4, 2019, at 20th Street and Girard Avenue in Fairmount (Prior reports and online obituaries had his age as 46, but the DA’s office had it as 39.)

“This defendant callously took lives, for dollars, as a paid killer,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in December. “The defendant is without a doubt a danger to society, and we will be asking the court for a sentence that ensures that the community is protected.”