Resentencing Hearing Held for Killer in '97 Murder

Shytour Williams was 15 when he and his cousin were sentenced to mandatory life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Karen King in 1997 (Photo-Michigan Offender Tracking Information System – OTIS)

Beginning around 9am this morning, a Saginaw man convicted to life in prison 24 years ago is getting a new hearing.

Shytour Williams, who was 15 at the time, and his cousin August Williams, who was 26, were sentenced to mandatory life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Karen King in January of 1997.

King was home on Christmas break from Michigan State University when the two kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered her; before parading her body around to their friends, and dumping her outside a salvage yard where she would be found the next morning.

Now 40, Shytour Williams’ sentence could be reconsidered after a 2012 Supreme court ruling abolishing mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles.

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This post will be updated as more information becomes available