A Buford man has been sentenced to life in prison after a Gwinnett County jury found him guilty of murdering a woman and her two-year-old son in April 2017.
The Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said in a press release that Brandon Craig Williams was found guilty Friday on two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Williams reportedly strangled Natalie Nation, 30, and Cole Nation, 2, at the home in the Buford area on Easter Sunday in 2017. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the two were renting a room in Williams' home at the time of the incident.
The Gwinnett County DA's Office said Williams' father and a friend were outside of the home when Williams walked out of the home and mumbled that he needed to burn the house down. He then walked to a nearby gas station. Williams' father then went into the home and found Natalie and Cole Nation dead in a bedroom. The cause of death for both victims was blunt force trauma and strangulation.
The DNA of Williams and Natalie was found on a towel that had been used to kill the victims.
The father immediately called 911 and police were able to find Williams at the gas station minutes after the murder.
"He was seen on surveillance video approaching strangers and trying to get a ride out of town," the Gwinnett County DA's Office said in a release. "Police were also able to speak with multiple neighbors who had heard the defendant yelling at the victim in the days and weeks prior to the murder asking her why she was still there and saying he wanted her out of his house."
A neighbor also heard Williams scream that he was going to kill everyone and go to California on the day of the murder.
"It was also revealed during the trial that the defendant had strangled Natalie on a prior occasion and resuscitated her," the release said.
Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Angela Duncan sentenced Williams to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The case was prosecuted by Managing Assistant District Attorney Bryan C. Brown and Senior Assistant District Attorney Tony Volkodav, assisted by DA Investigators Paul Cwalina, Christina Newman, and Brandi Rogers, and Victim Advocate Wonsiah Kermah.
