WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Newly detailed testimony from a prior victim took center stage at Wednesday’s sentencing for Semmie Williams, as prosecutors argued the killing of Palm Beach Gardens teen Ryan Rogers was part of a broader pattern of unprovoked violence. Williams, who was convicted in Rogers’ 2021 murder, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
During the hearing, prosecutors called 77-year-old Dennis Joseph Brinks of Georgia, who described a 2013 attack in Atlanta that he said still haunts him. Brinks testified that he was walking between two rental properties he owned when, without warning, he was attacked from behind, knocked into a ravine and brutally beaten and strangled.
Brinks told the court he had never seen Williams before that day and said the violence came out of nowhere. “The next thing I know is I turned my head a little and I seen this man jump me with his hand. He hit me the hardest he could… almost knocked me unconscious and there was a large ravine off the sidewalk. We both fell down and rolled down about 25 feet,” Brinks testified via video link…