Houston man gets 70 years for fatal shooting at baby shower

A Fort Bend County jury sentenced a Houston man to 70 years in prison for the February 2012 fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Lanier High School student just moments before a baby shower was to begin.

The defendant, Treyvon Raymond Williams, pleaded not guilty to the Feb. 25 shooting death of Ron Lamont Chaney II in the 5100 block of Beechaven in southwest Houston. Chaney's sister also was wounded in the gunfire.

The home in the South Post Oak/Hiram Clarke area is located in Fort Bend County.

The jury took less than an hour Tuesday to convict Williams of murder, and two hours to sentence him the same day. Under state law, he will be eligible for parole in 30 years.

On the day of the killing, Williams was at the home where a baby shower was planned for the daughter of the woman who owned the house where he was staying. Williams was 18 years old at the time.

After a fight erupted between some of the people invited to the gathering and others who had showed up uninvited, Williams fired all six rounds of a 22-caliber revolver, fatally hitting Chaney in the left side of his head, and injuring Chaney's sister.

She was treated at the scene for a gunshot wound to her forearm.

Williams admitted that he had bought the gun the day before from a friend in an unregistered street sale, according to Fort Bend County prosecutors. Williams returned to the scene after the shooting and led police to the weapon, which was recovered.

Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorney John Hawkins praised the jury's decision.

"We argued from the beginning that this case was about the value our society holds for human life," he stated in the press release. "It was fitting that a Fort Bend County Jury unequivocally stated that the best way to value life is to show the full measures we as a society are willing to take to protect it."