Man convicted of fatally shooting victim who was found stuffed in toolbox on Georgia road

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ala. (TCN) — A man has been convicted of fatally shooting another man who was found stuffed inside a toolbox on a Georgia road nearly three years ago.

According to Cherokee County District Attorney Summer Summerford, on Jan. 23, a jury found Eric Hooper guilty of the murder of 40-year-old Lachancey Williams. He is set to be sentenced in February and faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.

On March 15, 2022, a road crew working on Esom Hill Road in Polk County, Georgia, found a black truck toolbox with a body wrapped in a tarp with two gunshot wounds. Investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) identified the victim as Williams. The GBI crime lab found a fingerprint on the duct tape removed from the tarp around the victim’s body, and it matched with Hooper.

Officials with the GBI and Polk County Sheriff’s Office interviewed witnesses. Once they determined Williams had been killed in Alabama, they handed the case over to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

Prosecutors said this conviction “marks a historic moment for Cherokee County as there are now no pending intentional murder cases in the jurisdiction.”

In a statement, Summerford said, “I am proud of how the different agencies worked together to ensure justice was served. So many people worked on this investigation that it would be impossible to name them all. The community can rest well with the knowledge that there are dedicated public servants who devote their time and interest to making sure our citizens are safe.”

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