DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County man has pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the murder of his grandmother in 2017.
On July 24 of that year, a desperate search began for Millicent Williams after she lost contact with her family for several days. But the case took on a more sinister turn as police found evidence that she may not be alive.
The discovery of bloody sheets in the garage and "a lot of blood" on the bed and floor of her DeKalb County home combined with a violent history between Millicent and her grandson to suggest that Gregory A. Williams was a person of interest in her disappearance.
As early as 2014 Millicent, known as "Millie" by her neighbors, had filed a protective order against Gregory. She even told police before the end of that year that her grandson had threatened to kill her. However, he didn't comply.
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Three years later, he made good on the promise one day before police came to her home and realized that something was very wrong. Gregory was then named a person of interest in her death.
By July 31, 2017, Gregory was arrested at a Kroger at the intersection of Flakes Mill and Flat Shoals Parkway after police spotted him. He was in his grandmother's car.
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He was charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping and theft by taking a vehicle in Millie's disappearance. Searches for Millie continued in the days to come but it wasn't until Aug. 16 that detective's uncovered her body in a wooded area near I-20. The discovery only came after a tip from the public.
The medical examiner determined she died from a sharp force trauma to the head. A DeKalb County grand jury indicted Gregory on five counts, including murder, on Oct. 26, 2017.
Years later, his guilty but mentally ill plea was followed by a conviction. He was then sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole only after 30 years.
Gregory's plea doesn't mention exactly what mental illness he faced. However, his grandmother had told police when he attacked her back in 2014 that he suffered from PTSD and didn't take his medication.
Records show that he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1999 but was never deployed.
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