State Prison Inmate Gets Max Sentence For Fatally Choking His Cellmate

September 5, 2026

A state prison inmate will serve an additional 15 years behind bars after a Santa Rosa County jury convicted him of manslaughter in the death of his cellmate.

Tavis Ernest Williams was found guilty this week. Immediately following the verdict, Santa Rosa Circuit Court Judge Clifton Drake handed down the statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison.

Because Williams was designated a prison releasee reoffender, he must serve the entire sentence day-for-day, without eligibility for gain time or discretionary release.

The 15-year term will run consecutively to the prison sentence Williams is currently serving for prior convictions out of Miami-Dade County for first degree murder and robbery.

The conviction stems from an incident on May 27, 2022, inside the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton, where Williams and the victim shared a cell. Following a brief physical altercation, Williams placed the victim in a chokehold and refused to let go until the man stopped breathing.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the homicide and filed the arrest charges.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FRONT TOP