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A Selma man received a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to a 2016 murder in Dallas County. 

According to Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson, Kennedy Lewis, who had been charged with capital murder, pleaded guilty to avoid a jury trial.

After the guilty plea, Dallas County Circuit Court Judge Marvin Wiggins sentenced Lewis to 20 years in prison.

Kennedy was arrested and charged with the murder of 23-year-old Tavaris Dion Williams, on October 15, 2016. Carlous Levon Seals was also arrested in the crime.  Williams was shot to death at the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Old Montgomery Highway. Video surveillance helped investigators identify Seals and Lewis as the shooters.

“The video surveillance showed cars that pulled up,” said an officer with the Selma Police Department at the time. “They got out of the cars and shot toward the victim.”

Both weapons investigators believe were used in the shooting were recovered, which SPD identified as being handguns.

According to the Selma Police Department, family members retaliated against Williams because of several alleged domestic violence incidents with Lewis’ sister, who was Williams’ girlfriend.

“This was a case of vigilante justice,” Jackson said. “Citizens get frustrated sometimes but they should let the law handle these disputes.”