Coast man pleads guilty to fatally shooting Florida woman

An Ocean Springs man had admitted he killed a Florida woman found buried in the backyard of his home.

Phillip Allen York pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of first-degree murder and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Judge Robert Krebs then sentenced York to life in prison for the murder of Sarah Jane Willard and 10 years on the weapons charge.

“This was a heinous crime driven by the defendant’s selfish sexual desires,” Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said. “The defendant thought that no one would come looking for the victim. He was wrong.”

“Sarah’s life mattered and today we got justice for her and her family.”

Willard, 29, of Coral Springs, Florida, was found buried behind York’s home about two years ago.

Authorities have said previously that York and Willard met online and apparently got together at some point after they started communicating. Willard was last seen in South Florida in October 2019.

Her body was found buried in the backyard of York’s home on Sweetbriar Street in the St. Martin community in February 2020.

An investigation started in Mississippi after deputies got a call earlier that month from the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in reference to the Florida woman. Evidence led investigators to York’s home, where Willard’s body was discovered.

Autopsy results show Willard died of a single gunshot wound to the head, according to the state medical examiner.

York is a convicted felon, having been previously convicted of malicious wounding, a charge similar to aggravated assault in Mississippi. In that case, York severely cut a woman’s hand during a bar fight, a press release said.

Said Assistant District Attorney Justin Lovorn on Monday: “I want to commend the hard work of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and FBI in their collaborative investigation and pursuit of justice for Sarah.”

Staff writer Margaret Baker contributed to this report.