Man gets seven-, eight-year sentences in Sikeston shooting

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A Sikeston, Mo., man will serve 15 years in prison for the shooting death of his girlfriend in April 2009.

Brandon Lane entered a guilty plea Tuesday in New Madrid County Circuit Court before Judge William L. Syler Jr. The judge sentenced Lane to seven years in prison on an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter and eight years on a charge of armed criminal action. The sentences are to run consecutively.

Before his plea, Lane was slated to begin a jury trial in connection with the shooting death of Nikia Latrice Williams, 28, of Sikeston.

The Sikeston Department of Public Safety was called to Williams' apartment on Montgomery Street at 1 a.m. April 11, 2009. At the scene they found Williams with a gunshot wound in her upper torso.

Lane was in the apartment with Williams, and officers found a handgun on the floor near the couple.

Neighbors and Williams' 4-year-old daughter told officers the couple had argued before the shooting.

Lane told officers the couple had argued and struggled with a gun, which went off.

Pertinent address:

Montgomery Street, Sikeston, MO

New Madrid, MO