Macon man sentenced to life without parole in girlfriend's 2014 slaying

A Macon man charged with his girlfriend's 2014 stabbing death was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole Wednesday, plus another 20 years.

Jurors deliberated about 30 minutes before finding 39-year-old Ali Lamont Tanner guilty of two counts of murder and one count of family violence-related aggravated assault.

Bibb County deputies recovered the body of 27-year-old Shauntrice Michele Williams Dec. 3, bound and stuffed in a laundry bag at the Taylor County landfill.

Tanner had turned himself in to police Dec. 2 and admitted to stabbing Williams during a Nov. 29 argument.

During his trial, which began Monday, he 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 in their room at the Discovery Inn on Chambers Road.

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.

"I ain't no killer," he said. "I loved that girl."

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.

He admitted to pleading guilty to burglary and arson in 2002 -- stemming from allegations that he broke into a woman's home and set a fire -- but denied committing the offenses.

He also admitted that he had pleaded guilty to battery stemming from a 2009 assault on his girlfriend at the time, but he denied hurting the woman.

The ex-girlfriend, Latasha Pitts, testified Wednesday that Tanner punched her and threatened her with a knife June 20, 2009, after she called police and asked them to take Tanner away from her home. The assault happened while she waited on police to arrive.

Bibb County sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Paul testified that Pitts' face was bloody when he drove up.

He said Tanner jumped into a gray car and rammed his patrol car.

In Tanner's testimony, he admitted he took steps to hide Williams' death.

"It's the stupidest thing I ever did in my life," he said.

He said he turned himself in to police because he couldn't live with what he'd done.

Jurors watched a video of Tanner's interview with police and listened to a second recorded statement Tuesday.

In the recordings, Tanner described how he bound Williams' body into a ball, wrapped her into a motel bed comforter and stuffed her into a laundry bag.

He said he took the bag to a dumpster behind the motel.

Williams' uncle, Billy Baldwin, spoke during Tanner's sentencing hearing.

He described the impact of his niece's death on her mother and four children, ranging in age from 10 to 4.

The 4-year-old, then 3, was sleeping in the motel room when his mother was killed.

Baldwin said his family doesn't desire vengeance.

"Mr. Tanner's ultimate judge is our creator," he said.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter @awomackmacon.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Macon man sentenced to life without parole in girlfriend's 2014 slaying ."