JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man convicted of murder stemming from a 2022 slaying in Northwest Jacksonville has been sentenced to life in prison Friday.
Nathaniel Slade, 43, was convicted by a jury for second-degree murder Sept. 25. Slade was also sentenced to life in prison on attempted murder, armed burglary and possession of a firearm of a convicted felon regarding an incident from December 2021. The life sentences will run consecutively.
On April 20, 2022, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office discovered a body at 900 W. 9th Street, near the corner of Ninth and St. Clair streets in Allendale, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said, later listing the case as a homicide. The homeowner was cleaning when they discovered Williams' remains in a vacant home.
Family noticed Williams did not respond to birthday messages in late February, an arrest report said.
The report said Slade used to lived with Williams. A person close to Slade told officers that Slade had stabbed Williams in the chest and forced her to place the body in a trash can. According to the report, Slade reportedly told this witness, "I had to do what I had to do. She was disrespecting me."
The victim's son said he received requests on Cashapp from his mother and the requester could not answer questions about his "youth and personal life."
Prosecutors said Slade acted out of "pure malice" and he had so little remorse for Williams that he slept while her body was in the trash.
A witness in court Friday, Williams' daughter, told the court Slade told her and showed her text messages showing her mom was in Gainesville. Another witness, also Williams' daughter, read a letter from the victim's aunt:
"(Williams) was a person who always put her kids first, always had endless energy and was always jumping up to help a friend," she said. "She had a really big heart ... she was my only sibling and someone I always looked up to."
The letter said Williams had three children who did not deserve what happened to her and that Williams was taken "so early."
"LaDonna Williams was a second mother to me," another witness stated. "... Something could have been said sooner. Something could have been done sooner. The situation could have been changed."