September 2, 2026
PRESS RELEASE
On September 1, 2026, a Santa Rosa County jury found Tavis E. Williams guilty of Manslaughter. Santa Rosa Circuit Court Judge Clifton Drake immediately sentenced Williams to the maximum sentence of fifteen years in state prison. Williams was sentenced as a Prison Releasee Reoffender and is not eligible for gain time or any form of discretionary release. The sentence must also be served consecutively to the prison sentence that Williams is currently serving for charges out of Miami-Dade County.
On May 27, 2022, Tavis Williams and the victim were cellmates in prison at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. After a brief physical altercation, Tavis Williams placed the victim in a chokehold and maintained the chokehold until the victim died.
The arrest and investigation were conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Assistant State Attorney Mark Alderman prosecuted the case on behalf of Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida. For more information, please contact Mr. Alderman at (850) 981-5500.
