A 59-year-old man who caused a fatal crash in Ocala while driving at nearly twice the legal blood alcohol content limit has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for vehicular homicide and several charges related to driving under the influence.
On Monday, November 4, the State Attorney’s Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit announced that Marion County jurors have convicted Douglas M. Williams, Jr. on the following charges: DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, DUI with serious bodily injury, DUI with personal injury, and DUI with property damage.
Marion County Judge Peter M. Brigham then sentenced Williams to 17 years imprisonment on each count, which will be served consecutively in the Florida Department of Corrections.
The DUI-related charges stem from a fatal crash on December 15, 2018, that claimed the life of 46-year-old Clifford Gerald Green.
On the day of the accident, the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the intersection of U.S. 441 and SE 80th Street in Ocala. Upon arrival, troopers observed a red pickup truck that had rolled onto its side, and it had heavy front-end damage.
FHP learned during an ensuing investigation that Williams was the driver of the pickup truck when it ran a red light, slamming into the victim’s vehicle.
The victim, Green, was behind the steering wheel inside his vehicle, and his wife was sitting in the passenger seat. Paramedics pronounced Green deceased at the scene, and his wife was rushed to a local hospital for treatment of “extensive” injuries.
According to FHP, troopers investigating the crash located “numerous alcoholic beverage cans” inside Williams’ pickup truck. Some of the cans were opened.
Investigators later learned that Williams’ blood alcohol level was .157 at the time of the crash, which is nearly twice the legal limit in the state of Florida.
“(Williams’) decision to get behind the wheel while under the influence took a life and in so doing, destroyed a family,” stated Bill Gladson, State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. “Driving under the influence is one of the most senseless and selfish crimes because it can be so easily avoided.”
The case against Williams was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Janine Nixon.