Finesse Dawson died a brutal death at the hands of the man who vowed to love and protect her forever. Derrick McLaurence Williams, 32, was convicted of beating and strangling Dawson on Dec. 5, 2012.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
The arrest warrant detailed the savagery inflicted upon the 33-year-old woman in her Smyrna home.
“During a physical altercation, the accused choked the victim to death and beat her, leaving massive bruising to her head, hands, arms, back and buttocks,” the warrant stated.
“This was sustained cruelty,” Deputy Chief ADA Michael Scott Carlson said in his final argument. “Derrick Williams is just a man who will not take responsibility for his action…..He’s a one-man war on women.”
After Williams choked Dawson to death he cleaned her body and wrapped her in bedding to conceal his crime.
Williams reportedly told friends and police the victim died from a drug overdose.
It’s unknown how long Williams waited to tell her family and friends that Dawson had died. Williams fled the state but he was captured by U.S. Marshals as he sat on a Greyhound bus in Reno, Nevada one week later, the AJC.com reports.
It wasn’t the first time Dawson was beaten into submission by Williams. At the time of Dawson’s death, Williams was on probation for domestic violence against his wife, according to the AJC.com.
Dawson confused healthy love for the violence and intimidation Williams subjected her to on a regular basis. She had a tattoo on her leg that read “Love Hurts……Derrick,” according to Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds.
Family and friends of Finesse Dawson maintain a Facebook page in her memory.
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