POMONA — An ex-convict was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a deadly attack with a pickaxe and a rock on a woman at a homeless encampment in the riverbed of the San Gabriel River in Irwindale.

Jurors deliberated less than an hour before finding Steve Carlos Williams, 48, of Duarte, guilty Sept. 5 of first-degree murder, first-degree residential burglary and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury in connection with the Feb. 20, 2021, killing of Heather Marvets Kauffman, 37, according to Deputy District Attorney Phil Stirling.

The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder while lying in wait, along with allegations that he personally used a pickaxe and a rock during the commission of the crime.

Williams —

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