Queens man gets prison for killing woman
A New York City man who beat and strangled a woman in Albany in 2020 was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in state prison for the murder, Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ office said.
Lee Williams, 40, of Queens, was sentenced by Judge Andra Ackerman in Albany County Court on a second-degree murder conviction, which came after a three-week trial. The jury deliberated for less than four hours in March.
The indictment alleged that on Jan. 4, 2020, at her high-rise apartment off Lincoln Park, Williams struck 62-year-old Valena Shepherd repeatedly, causing severe trauma and leading to her death.
In a news release, the district attorney’s office quoted Ackerman as saying, “You brutally bludgeoned to death an elderly woman, disabled, sweet, and innocent, in an attempt to get her money. You are a monster, and you should never be allowed out of a correctional facility. If I could sentence you to more time, if I could sentence you to life without the possibility of parole, I would.”
Assistant District Attorneys Michael Shanley and Shannon Corbitt handled the prosecution.