Courts:

Man sentenced in shooting death of Palo Verde freshman

Parents of Christopher Privett express sorrow over loss of their son

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

Ezekiel Williams lowers his head while waiting for his sentencing hearing to begin Wednesday at the Regional Justice Center. Williams pleaded guilty June 24 to his role in the shooting death of Palo Verde High School freshman Christopher Privett.

By Jinae West (contact)

Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009 | 11:05 a.m.

Ezekiel Williams sentencing

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Christopher Privett

Ezekiel Williams was sentenced Wednesday to a minimum of eight years on one count of voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon and one count of accessory to murder in the shooting death of a high school freshman last year.

The decision was handed down by District Court Judge Stefany Miley. Williams pleaded guilty June 24.

On Feb. 18, 2008, Palo Verde High School freshman Christopher Privett was shot in a drive-by shooting. The 15-year-old later died from the wound at Summerlin Hospital.

According to police reports, a gray Pontiac driven by Williams passed by Privett and three of his friends on Alta Drive. Witnesses said harsh words and gang signs were exchanged between members of the two groups.

The car drove by the four boys again near Pavillion Center Drive. Williams said he handed the gun to Gerald Williams, 17, who fired it out the window.

In court Wednesday, Williams, 20, said he was sorry about the incident, both to the Privett family and his own. The victim's parents, Michael and Barbara Privett, expressed regret and sorrow over the loss of their son.

"It is very hard to express how I feel still," Michael Privett said.

He said his family has changed drastically since Christopher's death and often thinks about what might have been.

He listed small tokens that Christopher left behind: model cars, a piece of coral, a baseball card.

"That's what I have left besides memories," he said. "I don't need those things."

Barbara Privett said there isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't look at her son's picture and cry.

"It's hard to describe," she said. "It's devastating."

Discussion: 14 comments so far…

By henderson

8/5/09 at 1:35 p.m.

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Huh, 8 years for Chris Privett's life? There's a judge I'll be voting for never!
By VegasGlocker

8/5/09 at 1:52 p.m.

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Wow, a whole 8 years for murder. That should serve as a real deterrent to other hoodlums. This murderer will be out before he's 30, what a despicable injustice!
By vsestini

8/5/09 at 4:12 p.m.

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I've said it before: It's time to bring on the Guillotine...for judges like this.

This punk should receive a bullet to the head ASAP!
By NLV-Indep13

8/5/09 at 4:37 p.m.

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This is just pathetic all around. A fifteen year old boy gets killed by a group of pathetic teenage losers, then a judge hands down a pathetic sentence of 8 years (undoubtedly less time will actually be served). Just pathetic.

But of course, we reap what we sow, and the LV community has been sowing some pretty poor seed for years. Guess it's time to reap.
By Babyboomer

8/5/09 at 6:26 p.m.

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so crime DOES pay........so it seems. Murder is Murder
By Bodytalk555

8/5/09 at 7:13 p.m.

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This is a sickening example of pathetic liberal judges. 8 years for a young mans life. It's a shame.
By caeser

8/7/09 at 12:07 p.m.

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8 years is pretty pathetic. Apparently this is not the same judge that gave the guy that stole Lance Armstrong's bicycle a 3 year term.
By stevem

8/8/09 at 7:47 a.m.

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it's official.

murder in vegas = ahhh, not a big deal.
By MysterMr

8/9/09 at 4:03 a.m.

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You guys are stupid. 8 years is an eternity for a 17 year old. First, he probably won't make parole first time out. Second, if you're going to give him longer than that, then you might as well just make it life since he'll never, ever adapt into society.

Any crime that is truly worth 10 or more years in prison should be the death penalty since after 10 years, you aren't even punishing the same person.

Although... I do note the difference in sentencing between this guy and OJ Simpson. Simpson received an uber-ignorant sentence for a non-crime with no victim. This guy murders someone and gets 8 years. Strange logic there.
By Joe6

8/10/09 at 1:51 p.m.

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Judges give out short sentences for murder in Vegas for some strange reason.

8 years is not enough for taking a life. It should be 80 years with no parole!
By donaldcfi

8/10/09 at 11:11 p.m.

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Well, I have to agree with the folks who say 8 years is not enough. My only guestion to all of this is, how do we make a change to ensure this type of sentencing doesn't happen again? It's obvious most of us feel the same way, but yet it never seems to change.
By scottlv

8/12/09 at 11:08 a.m.

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change judges in court!!
By Auslander

8/12/09 at 3:48 p.m.

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If you want to blame someone, you can blame the plea bargaining system that allowed him to plead this down to manslaughter. On the other hand, if every case went to trial it would cost the taxpayers millions. And the actual sentence is 8 to 20, with the chances of him making parole at 8 almost impossible.
By elreyjugador

8/16/09 at 11:55 a.m.

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Definetely, To short of time for handing the gun to a person that killed someone. I got 60 months for trafficking...when I was 20 years old that does feel like a lifetime, a week is an eternity.