State of Tennessee v. Christopher Ivory Williams

Defendant-Appellant, Christopher Ivory Williams, was convicted by a Madison County Circuit Court jury of first degree premeditated murder and felony murder. The trial court merged the felony murder conviction with the first degree premeditated murder conviction and sentenced Williams as a violent offender to life imprisonment. On appeal, Williams argues that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for first degree premeditated murder; (2) the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the felony murder count of the indictment on the ground that no underlying felony was specified in the indictment; (3) the trial court erred in allowing the victim’s mother to authenticate pictures of the victim at trial; (4) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments; (5) the trial court erred in considering Williams’ prior arson conviction for impeachment purposes. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.