WAYNE COUNTY — A 54-year-old Fairfield man has been sentenced in Wayne County Court to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the 2015 shooting death of his friend.

William Johnson (Source: WCSO)
William Johnson
(Source: WCSO)

William D. “Bill “Johnson pleaded guilty to second degree murder for the shooting death of 50-year-old Jeffrey Scott Montgomery.

In exchange for Johnson’s guilty plea, charges of first-degree murder against him were dismissed.  He will be eligible for day-for-day credit in prison and was given credit for 293 days served in the Wayne County Jail.

According to court reports, Johnson shot and killed Montgomery with a small caliber handgun after the two men were involved in an altercation over a woman. He then fled the scene in his truck, driving south on Interstate 57. He was arrested in Williamson County about 90 minutes after the shooting.