Woman sentenced to 15 years for taking part in murder, robbery of a 19-year-old woman

SAN ANTONIO – One of the six people facing charges for the murder of a 19-year-old mother was finally sentenced after more than three years in and out of the courtroom.

Natalie Carrington, 20, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars on Wednesday in the 226th District Court on a charge of aggravated robbery. The conviction was in connection with the robbery and murder of Jasmine Williams in July 2020.

Carrington was 17 when she and a group of six others took part in the crime. At the time, all were charged with capital murder.

Williams was home with her two young children when her tennis shoes, piggy bank, debit card and cellphone were stolen in 2020, according to police.

Carrington, who was arrested for DWI in April, accepted a plea deal in May for a lesser charge of aggravated robbery.

“To intervene in your life, to help you in your life and to help you with the minimum sentence, and that’s what I intend to do today,” Judge Velia Meza said to Carrington during sentencing.

The plea agreement came with a punishment range of anywhere between 15 and 25 years in prison.

Both the defense and prosecution pointed to the fact that Carrington’s testimony before the grand jury helped to re-indict the shooter, Kyle Phillips, after his charges had been dismissed.

“Quite frankly, without cooperation in this case, we would have seven people known to be involved in the murder, the assassination of Jasmine,” the prosecutor in the case said.

Before sentencing was underway, Carrington’s attorney asked the judge to delay sentencing because his client is pregnant. However, the judge rejected the motion.

Per plea deals, four of Carrington’s co-defendants in the case have already been sentenced. Kyle Phillips received 30 years in prison. Johntavion Sounders got 20 years, Aaron Jackson got eight years, and J’Mariah Pope-Williams got five years.

Dorian Morphree was initially charged with capital murder for his role in Williams’ death. However, that charge was dismissed in February.

Williams’ sister, Hannah, has not been satisfied with any of these sentences, especially not Carrington’s.

“Justice really failed. The judge, the prosecutor –– I feel like he could have did more work, but he came in late,” Hannah Williams said. “So there’s a lot of stuff that wasn’t said, a lot of stuff that was hidden, put under the rug, and, yeah, it was failed.”

Alissa Weese, the final co-defendant to be sentenced, also appeared in court Wednesday.

Weese previously accepted a plea agreement in which she’d plead guilty to a charge of robbery and be granted deferred adjudication rather than jail time. However, Judge Meza rejected the deal.

“You don’t have to make up your mind right now, but I’m not following this plea bargain agreement,” Meza said.

Now that Judge Meza has rejected the plea deal for deferred adjudication, Weese will have to be back in court again next week.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales provided the following statement regarding Carrington and Weese’s court appearances Wednesday:

“Because Alissa Weese has an active case pending, it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.

Natalie Carrington, a co-defendant in this case, was sentenced by the Court to a term of 15 years in prison for robbery. Carrington’s plea agreement called for a maximum penalty of twenty five (25) years and a minimum of fifteen (15) years, which accounted for the fact that Carrington provided evidence which allowed our office to prosecute the shooter. Under Texas law, Independent evidence that “tends to connect” a defendant to the commission of a crime is necessary before a jury is allowed to consider the testimony of a cooperating accomplice. In this case, the cooperation of Carrington provided sufficient evidence connecting the shooter to the commission of the offense.”