MOULTRIE — A Colquitt County teenager was sentenced Friday to life in prison after he entered a guilty plea in the murder of a Sale City man whose body was partially burned in an attempt to conceal the death.

James Jamal Williams, 19, pleaded guilty to malice murder in the death of 27-year-old Jushua Morey, whose body was found wrapped in carpeting in some bushes behind Williams’ house.

Morey disappeared March 27 after he drove to Edmondson Road to pick up a junk vehicle.

Williams told investigators that he called Morey about selling a vehicle he did not own, and that when Morey came to his residence he hit him with a baseball bat. He also told them that he tried to burn the body with trash, and after it did not burn he concealed it.

After admitting his role in the death on March 30, he accompanied officers to the 512 Edmondson Road residence, where the body was found. Morey also was shot.

His Dodge 2500 pickup truck was found directly in front of Williams’ residence.

Charges of felony murder, armed robbery, concealing the death of another, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony were dismissed as part of the plea arrangement.

The life sentence imposed by Superior Court Judge Frank D. Horkan ensures that Williams will not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years, Assistant District Attorney Brian McDaniel said. Prior to January 2009, prisoners serving life sentences could have an initial parole hearing after 14 years.

“It was a good outcome (in that) Joshua Morey’s family was relieved they weren’t going to have to go through the stress of a trial,” McDaniel said.

After the sentencing Morey’s and Williams’ mothers talked and exchanged a hug.

“I guess they both understood they had a loss,” McDaniel said. “It was a very touching moment with the mothers.”