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Texas' 9th District Court of Appeals upholds 52-year sentence in 2015 Hardin County murder case

Terrance Tyveone Williams pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a Lumberton man at a Hardin County convenience store.

BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas appeals court has upheld the sentence for a Silsbee man convicted of killing a Lumberton man in 2015.

Texas' Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont has upheld Terrance Tyveone Williams' 52-year prison sentence for the fatal shooting of James Steven Clem, 27, of Lumberton. The courts opinion was delivered on Wednesday.

Williams pleaded guilty to shooting Clem at a Hardin County convenience store in 2015. At the time police said they believed drugs were a motive the shooting.

Following his guilty plea, Williams elected to have the jury impose his sentence.

In the appeal his lawyers claimed that the court should not have allowed a video of his "involuntary" confession to be used against him.

MORE | Read the court's opinion

They also claimed the court should not have allowed an all white jury to sentence him and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.

The appeals court disagreed, finding "no reversible error" and concluding that Williams' appeal is "wholly frivolous." 

This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.

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