Atlanta mother accused of murdering sons in oven, convicted on all counts, sentenced to life in prison

ATLANTA – A An Atlanta mother is accused of killing her two young sons by putting them in an oven has been convicted of 14 charges, including murder. Lamora Williams, 24, was sentenced Friday to life without parole plus 35 years.

The case stems from an incident in October 2017, when Williams called 911 shortly before midnight and told the operator she had come home to find her children dead. Officers discovered the bodies of Ja’Karter Penn, 1, and Ke’Yaunte Penn, 2, with severe burns.

“When I came in, the heater was on my son, on my youngest son’s head, and my other son was on the floor with his brain on the floor. I don’t know what to do. I just came home from his work,” Williams said during a chilling call to 911.

Williams initially claimed that she left her three children with a caregiver from noon until late that evening, and returned to find the boys dead and the caregiver gone. However, prosecutors argued that Williams put Ja’Karter and Ke’Yaunte in the oven sometime between late Thursday night and early Friday morning.

During the same period, Jameel Penn, the boys’ father, made a panicked call to 911 from his workplace. He told dispatchers that Williams had called him on video, which showed the lifeless bodies of their children.

“She called me on video and showed me this, and I saw it,” Penn said. “I think they’re really dead.”

Prosecutors presented evidence that contradicted Williams’ claims, and the jury found her guilty of two counts of murder, four counts of murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, and two counts of concealment of death. of another, one count of cruelty to children in the second degree, and one count of making a false statement.

Brenda Williams, Lamora’s mother, previously told FOX 5 that her daughter had a long history of mental illness and believed she “snapped” after her split from Penn.