Even after a Georgia woman apologized with tears streaming down her cheeks Wednesday for hitting and dragging a local woman under a vehicle during a purse snatching last year in Myrtle Beach, the victim, Brenda Williams, said she could not forgive the 32-year-old for injuries that left her a quadriplegic.
In a voice equally full of emotion, Williams asked for the maximum prison sentence for Katherine Michelle Johnson, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges related to the Nov. 9 incident outside the Myrtle Beach Kmart.
"I just don't think she is really sorry," Williams said after the hearing, before she rushed with other family members to her mother's house, which was reported as being on fire Wednesday afternoon.
Johnson, of Hepizibah, Ga., pleaded guilty to assault and battery with intent to kill and three counts of hit-and-run with great bodily injury.
Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Burch sentenced her to 121/2 years on the assault charge and 10 years each on the hit-and-run charges. The sentences will run concurrently.
Johnson had faced up to 20 years in prison, and Burch said he considered that she admitted her guilt and pleaded guilty to the charges, instead of requesting a trial.
"You've got to at some point put things behind you and accept what's happened and hope that it doesn't happen to anybody else," Burch said after discussing how his daughter broke her back in a fall from a 15-foot porch and sympathized with Williams' family, who didn't know if she would live immediately after the incident.
Johnson, who said she wrote her thoughts down so she wouldn't forget anything, read a statement to Burch, Williams and Mary Fagnant, 73, whose purse was stolen in the incident.
"I showed an act of selfishness that was uncharacteristic of me," Johnson said with tears in her eyes and her voice full emotion while she faced the women in the courtroom. "I know I've altered your life. I'm so sorry for it."
"I'm very sorry. I'm sorry I put all of this on everybody. I would never intentionally put this on anybody," Johnson said.
Her attorney, Tom Floyd, also gave Burch letters by Johnson's mother, grandmother and great-aunt. Burch said the letters told of Johnson's divorce before the incident and involvement with a man who persuaded her to stop taking medication for a mental disorder, which they attributed to have led to the incident.
"It escalated way beyond what it should have been," Floyd said. Johnson did not have a criminal record prior to the incident and was in Myrtle Beach for a vacation. "It's sad to see somebody her age stand before your honor that has never been in trouble before. ... I wish I could say more to lessen the tragic events we're having to deal with today."
Assistant Solicitor Scott Hucks said Johnson stole Fagnant's purse from her shopping cart in Kmart, and Fagnant chased her into the parking lot. Fagnant screamed for help, and Williams and a man, Jim Roth, came to her aid and tried to get the purse from Johnson.
Roth opened Johnson's car door and Williams was on the other side of the vehicle when Johnson put the vehicle in reverse to speed away. Roth was struck in the face by the door and lost several teeth. He also had cuts to his arms.
Williams was caught under the car, run over and dragged for about 100 feet under it, Hucks said. The vehicle also ran across Fagnant's legs as she tried to help.
Johnson fled to Georgia where she tried to cover up the crime, Hucks said.
Though the injuries to her legs have healed, Fagnant told Burch that mentally she continues to suffer.
"I still can't sleep at night for feeling guilty for getting Mrs. Brenda Williams involved in this and what happened to her," Fagnant tearfully told Burch. She declined to comment after the hearing.
Roth declined to attend the hearing, Hucks said.
After the hearing, Williams and other family members received word that her mother's house in Conway was on fire.
Conway firefighters responded Wednesday afternoon to a fire at 1852 Westridge Blvd. The fire, according to Brenda Williams' son, Lucius Williams, started in a room in the home.
It was unclear Wednesday what the damages were to the home. Lucius Williams said he didn't think the fire "touched the majority of the house."
No one was home at the time of the fire, said Capt. Jeremy Carter, Conway Fire's public information officer.
Carter said there were no injuries, and that the fire is under investigation.
Staff writer Janelle Frost contributed to this report.
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