WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. — A man facing several charges, including aggravated assault of his family, will spend more than a decade in prison after entering a negotiated guilty plea in the Conasauga Judicial Circuit.
District Attorney Benjamin Kenemer announced that William Wayne Kelley entered the plea Oct. 9th, 2026, before Judge Bert Poston.
Kelley pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated assault-family violence, burglary in the first degree, battery-family violence and violating a family violence order.
The state was represented by Assistant District Attorney and Domestic Violence Prosecutor Victor Perez, with assistance from Domestic Violence Investigators Jeff Silvers and Aaron Simpson and Domestic Violence Victim Advocate Erika Vidana.
Poston accepted the state’s sentencing recommendation and sentenced Kelley to 19 years on the aggravated assault charge, with the first 13 years to be served in prison and the remaining six years on probation.
Kelley also received an additional 10 years of probation on the burglary charge, to run consecutively to the aggravated assault sentence.
He received concurrent 12-month sentences to serve on each of the misdemeanor charges of battery-family violence and violating a family violence order.
The combined sentence is 29 years, with 13 years in prison followed by 16 years on probation.
In exchange for Kelley’s guilty plea, the state of Georgia agreed to dismiss one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and one count of cruelty to children in the third degree.
The Whitfield County District Attorney’s Office encourages anyone experiencing domestic violence to seek support. The Northwest Georgia Family Crisis Center provides shelter, advocacy, and support for victims in Whitfield, Murray, and Gordon counties. Contact the center at 706-278-6595 or call its 24-hour crisis hotline at 706-278-5586.
