A Grasonville man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the strangulation death of a Queenstown woman. Armon Montrell Williams, 43, was indicted in May by a Queen Anne’s County grand jury on charges of first- and second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the death of Jeanette G. Lee, 42. Williams pleaded guilty in Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court to second-degree murder in return for the state dropping the first-degree murder and assault charges.

Lee was found unresponsive on March 21 at her Main Street home and pronounced dead a short time later at Queen Anne’s Emergency Center. Witnesses said Williams and Lee argued before going into the bedroom, Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Lance Richardson said. After an urgent call from Lee’s mother, the witnesses broke down the door to check on Lee and found her not breathing with foam on her mouth and her shirt bloody, Richardson said. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency center, where she was pronounced dead.

Williams left in Lee’s car, and deputies found him about an hour later at a relative’s home in Grasonville, where he was threatening anyone who came there and attempting to kill himself. Police used a taser to subdue Williams when he refused to drop a knife and then took him into custody and to the emergency center for treatment before he was charged.

Richardson asked for a 20- to 30-year sentence for Williams. Thirty years is the maximum penalty for second-degree murder under sentencing guidelines. Judge Thomas G. Ross ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set Williams’ sentencing for December 19.