LONGVIEW, Texas — A Kilgore man convicted of murdering a Hallsville teen in 2015 was given a reduced sentence during a court hearing Thursday.

Coby Ray Hudgins, 33, was originally sentenced to 99 years in prison for the 2013 murder of Kayla Williams, 17. But in June 2024, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted him a new punishment hearing.

On Thursday, Hudgins agreed to receive a reduced sentence of 45 years in prison rather than go through a new sentencing hearing, according to the Gregg County judicial records.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a new hearing based on expert testimony that found Hudgins' "traumatic history as a sexual assault victim combined with the physical and mental effects of that trauma" could have reduced the length of his sentence. He also f

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