ROAD rage incident leads to 1,050-year sentence

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A state judge sentenced a man to 1,050 years in prison Thursday for permanently disfiguring a woman during what police said was a violent case of road rage. <br><br>Keith LaJuan

Friday, September 7th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A state judge sentenced a man to 1,050 years in prison Thursday for permanently disfiguring a woman during what police said was a violent case of road rage.

Keith LaJuan Jones, 44, was convicted in June of inflicting injuries to Vivian Williams during a series of accidents on Jan. 25, 1997. Williams has undergone 14 surgeries to repair the injuries and may need four more.

District Judge Twyla Mason Gray followed jurors' recommendation and sentenced Jones to 750 years in prison for injuring Williams. Gray also ordered two 150-year prison sentences to run consecutively with the 750-year sentence.

Jones was convicted of three counts of assault and battery with the intent to kill, one with a deadly weapon and two with a dangerous weapon.

Jones was convicted of first backing into one car, then threatening to kill a woman if she didn't move her car.

Williams was the third victim. She was walking to get cigarettes when she was hit by Jone's car, wedging her under the left rear wheel. She was dragged 715 feet.

``No one disagrees the evidence was disturbing,'' Gray told the defendant. ``The jury's recommendation reflects how terrifying the evidence was.''

The judge overruled a motion for a new trial. Defense attorneys plan to appeal.

Public defender Ben Brown tried to prove Jones was insane when he plowed his car into two vehicles and Williams.

Jones mental competency was evaluated three times in four years. He was sent twice to Eastern State Hospital in Vinita, Brown said.

The defendant has recently refused to take his medication.

When the judge asked him to explain, Jones said: ``I would rather not take them at this time.''