Columbus man says he 'lost control' when he killed a woman during a 2020 road rage shooting

Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch

Ricky Williams Jr. said he was grieving from losing two people to gun violence and "lost control" when he shot into a woman's car during a 2020 road rage shooting, killing her in front of her 13-year-old son.

"I can’t explain that day; I just lost it for no reason," Williams, 24, of Columbus' South Side, said Tuesday as he apologized during his sentencing hearing in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Victoria "Vikki" Perry, right, mother of Christina Perry, and Christina's stepfather, Dan Cunningham, react Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court during the sentencing of Ricky Williams Jr. for the fatal 2020 shooting of Christina during a road rage incident. The shooting occurred as Christina's 13-year-old son was a passenger in her vehicle.

Franklin County prosecutors said Williams killed Christina Perry, 35, simply because she wasn't driving fast enough for Williams' liking on Studer Avenue, on the city's South Side.

It was one of two road rage shootings at women in two days by Williams, prosecutors say. The second victim was not injured.

More: Suspect in Columbus woman's killing charged in another road-rage shooting a day later

Ricky Williams Jr., right, a 34-year-old from Columbus' South Side, stands with his defense attorney, Nathan Akamine, left, on Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, where Judge Kim Brown sentenced Williams to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 22 years as recommended in a plea agreement. Williams pleaded guilty on Oct. 18 to murder, attempted murder and felonious assault for firing at two vehicles in back-to-back road rage shootings in October 2020, killing Christina Perry in front of her 13-year-old son in one of the incidents. Williams apologized in court.

On Tuesday, Common Pleas Judge Kim Brown sentenced Williams to life in prison with the opportunity for parole in 22 years, which was the joint recommendation of prosecutors and Williams' defense attorney, Nathan Akamine, as part of his plea agreement.

Williams pleaded guilty Oct. 18 to murder and attempted murder for killing Perry on Oct. 25, 2020, while her teenage son, Shamille, was in the vehicle.

Williams also pleaded guilty to felonious assault for shooting at Kristin Allen in her vehicle less than 24 hours later, on Oct. 26, 2020. She was not injured.

Dan Cunningham, Christina Perry's stepfather, spoke for the family during the sentencing hearing.

"I don’t want to hear any words of apology. … That's for when you step on somebody’s foot on accident," Cunningham said. "When you deliberately shoot at people, knowing it could hurt somebody and take their life, I don’t want an apology for that."

Cunningham told Williams to save those apologies for God during his long nights in prison.

Perry was driving her son Shamille to his dad's house after a basketball game when Williams shot her around 8:15 p.m.

Shamille was not in court Tuesday. Cunningham said Shamille has been traumatized and could not bear to come to court and be feet away from Williams.

Roniesh Perry, Christina Perry's younger sister, reacts during the sentencing Tuesday of Ricky Williams Jr., 34, of Columbus' South Side, for fatally shooting Christina in front of Christina's teenage son in the first of two back-to-back road rage shootings in October 2020. A second woman Williams shot at the next day escaped injury. Williams was sentenced to life in prison with the opportunity for parole in 22 years under the terms of his plea agreement.

Before police arrested Williams in 2022, Cunningham said their family was at a loss. He said people would ask them if Perry knew the shooter or somehow provoked it.

But that was not the case, Cunningham said, describing Perry as a hard-working "angel" whose death their large family is still grieving over.

Williams could not legally possess a gun, and the firearms he used in the road rage shootings were purchased for him by his girlfriend, Michaela Payne, according to Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor John Gripshover.

Payne was charged in 2022 with eight counts of unlawful transactions in weapons for purchasing firearms and giving them to Williams and his father, who could also not legally possess guns.

Payne pleaded guilty to five of the charges, and Brown sentenced her in April to three years of community control, generally called probation.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man sent to prison for murdering woman in road rage shooting

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