Will serve consecutively to federal CSAM charges
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – Eric Lavon Williams, 37, of Pima, was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for the Oct. 28, 2021, murder of Kenneth Jay Babcock. He will serve the time after his federal sentence is completed.
Williams previously pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree. In addition to the homicide charge, Williams was also charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor relating to a previous federal sexual exploitation case in which Williams was already serving.
Williams appeared in front of Graham County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Travis W. Ragland on Tuesday afternoon and was sentenced to 20 years for murder in the second degree. Following his plea agreement, the five sexual exploitation counts were amended to “attempted” and he was given lifetime supervised sexual offender probation upon his release from the Arizona Department of Corrections on each of the five amended counts.
The case was prosecuted by Graham County Attorney L. Scott Bennett, who argued the sentence for the state.
“The defendant ended a life in an especially cruel manner,” Bennett said. “While nothing we can do will ever bring Kenny (the victim) back, the defendant pleading to the charge and receiving an aggravated sentence will serve notice that this will not be tolerated. We offer our profound sympathy to the victim’s mother as well as his children and recognize the fine investigation of Mark Smith and the entire Graham County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the agents from the Department of Homeland Security, who all worked tirelessly to ensure that we had the case we needed to convict the defendant.”
Judge Ragland decided to make the murder sentence consecutive to a 97-month federal sentence (just over 8 years) that Williams was sentenced to on Feb. 21, 2024, for distribution and possession of CSAM. That means Williams will be incarcerated until at least 2051.
The victim’s mother was present at the sentencing and spoke highly of County Attorney Bennett and his office.
She told the court she was appreciative of the support from the County Attorney’s Office and that she feels they truly got justice for her son.
The homicide was the result of a love triangle between Eric Williams, his estranged wife, Cori Williams, and Babcock.
Babcock was dating Cori as she was separated from Eric and was going through a divorce at the time of the murder. According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office report, Cori was experiencing issues with Babcock and wanted to retrieve the keys to her car, rather than letting Babcock drive it. She told authorities that she had caught Babcock using methamphetamine, and when she threw it away, he threatened her physically and with a knife.
So, she enlisted her estranged husband, Eric, to help retrieve the keys. When he attempted to do so sometime later, an argument ensued, resulting in a physical confrontation.
According to Eric, Babcock began punching him and struck his knee in the face. Eric said Babcock was armed with a razor blade knife and that to protect himself, he choked him until he passed out. Nobody else witnessed the altercation.
On off-duty, Graham County probation officer was hunting with Eric’s father when Eric called him to allegedly assist with picking up the vehicle at a residence off Spur Drive about six miles south of Safford. Upon arrival at the residence, however, the men encountered Eric outside, who advised that he had gotten into an altercation with Babcock and that Babcock had pulled a knife on him. A razor blade knife was later recovered at the scene.
The probation officer and Eric’s father checked on Babcock and noticed he wasn’t breathing. They called 911, and the men began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until relieved by law enforcement and paramedics. Babcock was declared deceased at the scene.
Eric allegedly told an investigator that he was in fear for his life and had lost consciousness when Babcock’s knee struck his head. When he noticed the razor blade, he said he threw Babcock down on the ground and placed his knee into Babcock’s hand and his arm on the back of his neck. After holding him in that position for a while, Babcock quit moving, and Williams said he believed he had passed out.
Further investigation led authorities to believe that what had appeared to be initially self-defense was more sinister.
Police uncovered messages between Eric and Cori during the week leading up to the murder in which she repeatedly complained about Babcock and how she wished he were dead and that she could kill him. In the messages, she pleads with Williams for help and says the only way to fix things is to “get rid of Kenny.”
To complicate things further, Eric was also Cori’s drug dealer, and she asked him to bring over apparent illicit stimulants in an Oct. 27, 2021, message, the day before the murder. Additionally, the investigation revealed that Eric had reportedly threatened Babcock’s life previously for being with his wife.
An autopsy performed by the Pima County Office of Medical Examiner ruled Babcock’s death a homicide due to cervical compression – he was strangled to death.
During the homicide investigation, the Department of Homeland Security received information on April 26, 2022, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding child sex abuse material (CSAM) that was uploaded via Facebook and Snapchat.
Its ensuing investigation found 11 videos containing horrific CSAM involving pre-pubescent children between the ages of 2 and 11.
On Feb. 21, 2024, Eric Williams was sentenced to 97 months in prison (just over 8 years) and was ordered to register as a sex offender upon any release from prison. Cori Williams was also charged with the distribution and possession of CSAM after the investigation showed that she had obtained such material for her husband and sent it to him. Cori was sentenced in April 2024 and was given 18 months for possession of child pornography.
