Javon Williams claimed self-defense and told a prosecutor he felt he was in a different dimension during the fatal encounter.
ATLANTA, GA — An Atlanta man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus five additional years, after a jury convicted him of murdering a stranger he followed from a convenience store in December 2022, according to prosecutors and local news reports.
Javon Williams was found guilty in late July in the killing of Zicorey Kenner, who was 20 when he was shot near an apartment complex on Fairburn Road in southwest Atlanta. Williams argued that he acted in self-defense, but prosecutors said surveillance video and other evidence did not support his account. His attorneys have since filed a motion for a new trial, meaning the case remains active in the courts despite the conviction and sentence.
Atlanta police said officers responded to 415 Fairburn Road SW at about 2:19 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2022, after receiving a report of a person who had been shot. Officers found a 20-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died from his injuries on Dec. 14, according to a later police update. Homicide investigators then took over the case.
Prosecutors told WSB-TV that surveillance cameras captured Kenner at a convenience store before the shooting, where he had gone to buy snacks for his mother on her birthday. Williams was another customer inside the store. Video showed Kenner leaving and Williams following about a minute later, Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Shaniqua Christian said. Additional surveillance footage from an apartment complex captured the encounter that followed.
Christian said Williams had closed the distance between himself and Kenner during the roughly two-minute walk from the store. Prosecutors said Williams was more than 50 to 60 feet from Kenner when he fired the fatal shot. According to Christian, Williams maintained that Kenner had threatened to kill him if he returned to the apartment complex. She said the alleged threat was not shown on the surveillance video.
The prosecution also challenged Williams’ explanation of his actions after the shooting. Christian said Williams ran past the wounded Kenner after the gunfire. Senior Assistant District Attorney Jacelynn Porter said Williams gave another unusual answer when she questioned him at trial about why he fired at Kenner, telling her that he was in a different dimension. Prosecutors referred to that testimony during their closing argument.
Williams was not taken into custody immediately after the killing. Atlanta police said he was extradited from the Cobb County Jail to the Fulton County Jail on Dec. 28, 2023, more than a year after the shooting, and charged with murder. Police had said their initial information was preliminary while the investigation continued. News reports at the time said Williams had been arrested in connection with an unrelated matter before authorities returned him to Fulton County.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said authorities could not offer a clear explanation for why Kenner was killed. The prosecution instead focused on the surveillance evidence, the distance between the two men and Williams’ conduct before and after the shooting as it challenged his self-defense claim. The jury ultimately convicted Williams, and the court imposed a sentence of life without parole plus five years.
A spokesperson for the public defenders representing Williams told WSB-TV that the verdict did not end the legal process. Williams’ defense team has filed a motion seeking a new trial. No ruling on that motion had been reported as of Wednesday, and further proceedings will determine whether the conviction and sentence remain in place.
Author note: Last updated August 12, 2026.