2014 drug killer Eddie Williams again gets life in prison after re-conviction

Eleven years after he fatally shot Marcus Ortiz and permanently injured Keith Crawford and 10 years after his first murder conviction, Eddie Lee Williams was again sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, Aug. 13.

Williams shot the two on March 14, 2014, in a drug-dealing dispute inside a South Lebanon Township apartment building. He was convicted in 2015 by a Lebanon County jury and sentenced to life in prison.

That conviction was vacated in 2022 and a new trial ordered when a federal court concluded that Judge Samuel Kline improperly let the jury hear an absent co-defendant’s confession that incriminated Williams.

A second jury again convicted Williams at his June 2025 retrial before Lebanon County President Judge John Tylwalk.

Noting that Williams had an extensive history of violence and drug crimes before killing Ortiz and causing Crawford permanent brain damage, Tylwalk sentenced Williams to prison “for the balance of his natural life” for his 1st-degree murder conviction, followed by several consecutive sentences for convictions on related charges.

In total, Tylwalk sentenced Williams to life in prison plus 25 years, prompting Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf to observe “Mr. Williams is going to die in prison. He’s getting what he deserves.”

Crawford testified for the prosecution at the June retrial, and showed obvious signs of brain damage. He was not present at sentencing. Hess Graf told Tylwalk that the experience has caused Crawford’s condition to regress since June.

Although it will make no practical difference, Williams, who had partially served a life sentence from his first conviction and who has been in prison without bail since it was thrown out, will receive credit for time served from Oct. 7, 2014, to Aug. 13, 2025.