James Williams III, a convicted double murderer who made headlines after being paroled earlier this year, has been arrested yet again.
Williams, who served 18 years for killing his father and stepmother in 2001, was apprehended Friday night for a DUI in Rankin County. According to a source, Williams wrecked his vehicle into a ditch on Highway 80 in Pearl.
Prior to his early release in May, requests from the victims’ family members, a former prosecutor, a forced accomplice, and nearly 30 House members sought for the Mississippi Parole Board to reverse its decision over fears Williams might still be dangerous. He was originally given two life sentences for the brutal murders of his parents and the gory disposal of their bodies.
“James Williams III is a cold-blooded killer that has never shown an ounce of remorse for the murders and subsequent devastation that he created for my family,” Zeno Mangum, the once stepbrother of Williams, said weeks before his release. “We are concerned not only for our personal safety but also for the safety of anyone who may come in contact with this psychopath.”
In 2001, a then-17 Williams shot his father, James Williams, Jr., nine times in the head before shooting his stepmother, Cindy Lassiter Mangum, in the face. He then forced a 15-year-old by the name of Adam White to help him put the bodies in Rubbermaid containers inside trash bags and dispose of them in a wooded area near Shiloh Park in Brandon.
White, saying Williams had threatened him at gunpoint, told police a week later where the bodies were located.
Four years later, in 2005, Williams was convicted and sentenced as court proceedings revealed his motive had been an early $1 million inheritance. However, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2012 declared the sentencing of individuals under 18 to life without parole as unconstitutional, opening the door for Williams to seek an early release.
According to family members, Williams was able to bolster his résumé for parole by undergoing a “moral rehabilitation,” which included getting his GED and beginning work as an in-prison Christian minister.
While a first-offense DUI is typically considered a misdemeanor in Mississippi, the crime could lead to Williams’ parole being revoked. It is unclear when a decision will be made.
