WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A 28-year-old West Palm Beach man on Monday was sentenced to life in prison in the death of a Palm Springs teen in 2012.
Circuit Judge Caroline Shepherd sentenced Anthony Jamal Williams to life sentences for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, and 25 years for robbery with a firearm. They are to be served concurrently.
A jury convicted Williams on Aug. 29 of killing 17-year-old Jake Duchene and wounding his friend Zachary Wolfe.
Duchene and Wolfe were found in a vehicle in the 3900 block of Windsor Avenue.
Williams was 16 at the time of the crime at 11:10 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2012.
Though Wolfe identified Williams as a gunman in Duchene's death days after the shooting, authorities did not pursue charges against him until May 2020. Williams was serving a four-year prison sentence for two homicides in 2016.
Duchene had coordinated via cellphone to sell a quarter ounce of marijuana, according to the arrest report.
Williams spoke with Duchene through the driver’s side window of Duchene’s pickup, police said. After receiving a sample, he returned with someone.
Wolfe handed the entire bag but they were shot.
One month after the fatal shooting, Tyrie Theophile, then 16, was indicted on murder, attempted murder and robbery charges.
In 2015, a jury found that Theophile was present at the time of the shooting but did not have a gun on him, and ruled him guilty of a lesser charge of second-degree murder.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Karen Miller sentenced Theophile to 45 years in prison but the court remanded Theophile's case for resentencing under a different circuit judge. It is scheduled for a hearing on April 27.
