DUBLIN — An Alameda County judge has sentenced a man to 16 years to life in prison in a murder case where the victim pulled out a knife first, only for the defendant to take it and kill him as they rode BART.
Jermaine Brim, 44, was sentenced six months after being convicted of second-degree murder in the 2019 stabbing death of 49-year-old Oliver T. Williams. He was transferred to the state prison system on April 24 and is currently housed at North Kern State Prison, records show.
Before Brim was sentenced, he heard from several of Williams’ loved ones, including his sister, girlfriend and daughter.
“I know I’m supposed to feel lucky and grateful to have had any time with him at all, and I do, but if I’m honest, I also feel cheated,” Williams’ girlfriend, Susan Sarratt, said at the hearing. “We were still at the beginning of our story and there was so many milestones we never got to reach, and I’ll never get to know really what our love would have been like in five, 10, 20 years.”
Williams’ sister told Brim she won’t forgive him and warned she believes in karma, while his daughter told Brim that “you also killed a piece of me that I may not ever get back, but I wish you all the best,” according to a transcript of the hearing. Several of Brim’s loved ones spoke out in his defense, calling him a positive influence and a warm and generous person.
Near the hearing’s end, Brim apologized and told Williams’ family, “I’m not a bad person.”
“I was in a situation where I was confronted and I did the best that I can do with my situation,” he said. “I’m sorry that it happened to you guys. I’m sorry for (your) loss. You know, I didn’t want it to happen like that.”