SUPERIOR COURT
A defendant well known by law enforcement officers in Jones County and the City of Gray was revoked to prison due to the violation of his probation.
Willie Earl Sanders Jr. was revoked to serve two years in prison Jan. 25 due to new charges that were a violation of his probation. Sanders, 32, was arrested on the violations Dec. 1, 2023.
He entered a guilty plea April 20, 2023, to charges of possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine and abandonment of drugs in a public place. Sanders received a total sentence of three years, which were allowed to be served on probation.
District Attorney Wright Barksdale prosecuted the case, and Sanders was represented by public defender Tom O’Donnell. The prosecutor told the court Sanders violated the terms and conditions of his probation by committing the new offense of felony theft by shoplifting in Bibb County Nov. 9.
Sanders was found not guilty in the 2018 death of a toddler following a February 2022 trial. He was arrested Oct. 17, 2018, by the Gray Police Department following an investigation of the child’s death. The incident leading to the toddler’s death was believed to have occurred in the parking lot of a local grocery store while in the care of Sanders.
The trial was delayed multiple times due to the pandemic.
