A Wharton man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for his role in a club shooting that killed three people, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This is yet another example of how gun violence can tear families apart,” Ogg said. “Three young men, one of whom was a completely innocent bystander, were killed when this defendant flouted our laws and avoided every security measure put in place to protect people in that club, and a Harris County jury agreed that he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

Demontae Lavon Williams, 28, was convicted of capital murder by a Harris County jury after a four-day trial for killing Jailyn Page, 19, Bryce Lee Goddard, 21, and Christopher Donshae Jackson, 22, on October 20, 2020.

Williams and another man, whose case is still pending, were able to bypass security and bring guns into the club in the 2100 block of Chenevert where they ran into several men they knew from the neighborhood.

Members of the other group began yelling at Williams and the other man. When the argument escalated, Williams and the other man pulled their handguns and shot Page and Goddard. Jackson was not connected to the fight but was shot and killed by a stray bullet.

Jurors rejected Williams’ claims of self-defense after hearing that he and his co-defendant snuck their guns into the club expecting a fight and could have walked out when the argument started instead of opening fire.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Meriwether, who is a division chief in the DA’s Trial Bureau, and Jamie Burro, who is a chief in the DA’s Homicide Division, prosecuted Williams.

“The young men who were killed had families that loved them and had their whole lives ahead of them,” Meriwether said. “We’re grateful that the jury was able to see past any claim of self-defense and handed down the correct verdict for these victims and their families.”

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