A Macon man was stabbed in prison. Here’s a timeline of his conviction, prison death

Ali Lamont Tanner, who was sent to prison in November 2015 for stabbing his girlfriend, was stabbed to death Friday at a Georgia prison, officials said.

The details of Tanner’s killing have yet to be released, but many Middle Georgia residents will remember his trial and conviction in the 2014 stabbing death of Shauntrice Michele Williams.

Here is a timeline of Tanner’s arrest, trial and conviction for killing Williams:

June 20, 2009: Ali Lamont Tanner reportedly punches his then-girlfriend and threatens her with a knife. Tanner later pleaded guilty to battery in the incident, but denied hurting the woman.

Nov. 29, 2014: Tanner and Williams have an argument in their room at the Discovery Inn on Chambers Road and Williams is stabbed to death. Her body is put in a bag and thrown into a dumpster.

Dec. 2, 2014: Tanner turns himself in to Bibb County Sheriff’s deputies and tells investigators he stabbed Williams to death.

Dec. 3, 2014: Bibb County deputies recover Williams’ body, bound and stuffed in a laundry bag at the Taylor County landfill.

Nov. 2, 2015: Tanner’s murder trial begins. Tanner’s defense attorney tells the jury that Tanner killed Williams in self-defense. Prosecutor Jonathan Adams disputed Tanner’s self-defense claim in his statement to jurors.

Adams said Tanner grabbed the knife — one they’d been using to cut up apples for Williams’ 3-year-old son — and stabbed her once in the chest as her son slept.

Williams had undergone treatment the previous day for a broken pinky finger she injured punching a mirror after arguing with Tanner. Her hand was bandaged and in a sling, Adams said.

She was lying in bed during the argument and when she was stabbed, he said.

Nov. 4, 2015: During his trial, Tanner maintained that Williams was stabbed in self-defense, though his story wavered when he testified as the only witness in his defense.

When questioned by his lawyer, Tanner said he struggled with Williams. He told jurors Williams was the one who picked up a knife and threatened him with it. Claiming Williams had stabbed him in August 2014, puncturing his lung, Tanner said he feared for his life.

Williams was stabbed in the heart during the struggle, Tanner said.

But when questioned by the prosecution, Tanner contradicted his testimony, admitting that he told police in the days after the killing that he’d been the one to grab the knife and that Williams didn’t see the knife coming.

Tanner is convicted and sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole, plus another 20 years.

July 2, 2021: Tanner is stabbed to death by another inmate at Augusta State Medical Prison in Grovetown. Details of Tanner’s death were not divulged by a prison spokeswoman who confirmed his death, but Columbia County Coroner Vernon W. Collins told The Telegraph that Tanner was stabbed by an inmate.

Reporting from Joe Kovac Jr. and Telegraph archives was used in this story.

This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 3:16 PM.