By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Twenty-four-year-old Daveon Cathey, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, leg and ankle shackles, stood motionless and silent as Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves announced Cathey’s sentence in the Shelby County Courthouse on March 13.

Reeves announced Cathey’s sentence in the Shelby County Courthouse on March 13.

Cathey will spend the next 99 years in an Alabama penitentiary for shooting and killing Alabaster resident Jonathan Williams at Williams’ house in Alabaster in September 2011. Cathey was found guilty on one count of murder by a jury in October 2013.

The shooting happened at about 10:15 p.m. when Cathey shot Williams while he was exiting his vehicle at his residence in the 100 block of 11th Avenue Southeast in Alabaster. Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney previously said the shooting happened during a robbery.

After Williams was shot, he was transported to UAB Hospital, where he later died.

Alabaster police officers worked with members of the U.S. Marshal Service Fugitive Task Force to bring 24-year-old Cathey into custody at about 12:50 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2011, in the 13000 block of Highway 25 in Calera.

Before sentencing Cathey, Reeves said Cathey killed Williams to “gain an advantage in illegally selling drugs,” and said Cathey has “shown no expressions of remorse.”

During Cathey’s sentencing hearing, Williams’ sister, Jennifer Williams, said her brother’s death has had a profound impact on her family.

“His kids were his pride and joy, and they don’t deserve to have him taken away from them,” Jennifer Williams said of her brother. “It is still affecting the people who loved him, and it always will.

“I miss my brother so much. Not only was he my brother, he was my friend,” Jennifer Williams said. “Watching my brother pass early on September 6, 2011, was the hardest thing I’ve experienced in my entire life.”

During a testimony before he was sentenced, Cathey claimed he was innocent in the crime.

“I’m not saying that I did this,” Cathey said during his testimony. “I can honestly say that I wish the person who is responsible for this could see this pain.

“I’m sorry for y’all’s pain. I’m sorry y’all got to go through this. I hate that y’all had to go through this,” Cathey said to the group of about six of Williams’ family members gathered in the courtroom.

Reeves originally was scheduled to sentence Cathey at 1:30 p.m. on March 3, but a scheduling misunderstanding meant several witnesses subpoenaed to attend the hearing were not at the courthouse on March 3.