Man avoids death penalty with plea in woman's slaying

COLUMBUS - A Columbus man has pleaded guilty to the April 17, 2000, slaying of a 23-year-old woman, avoiding the possibility of a death sentence. <br> <br> Superior Court Judge Doug Pullen sentenced Randy Gene Smallwood Jr., 21, to life in prison Friday in the stabbing of Tiffani Leeann Miller and the armed robbery of the Chattahoochee Valley Community College student. <br> <br> Miller was killed after Smallwood and co-defendant Christopher Michael Redwine, 24, entered her apartment and attempted to tie her up with duct tape, prosecutor Mel Hyde said. <br> <br> As the 4-foot-8, 86-pound woman began to scream, Smallwood used a pair of scissors and a knife to stab her 14 times in the head and throat, Hyde said. <br> <br> Smallwood and Redwine, looking for money for drugs, then ransacked the apartment and stole a lock-box they thought contained cash but instead had only personal papers inside. <br> <br> Redwine&#39;s trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 14.