WINNSBORO (Aug. 18, 2016) – A Winnsboro man was convicted last week and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the 2014 murder of 34-year-old Jennifer Monique Stone.
Sixth Circuit Solicitor Randy E. Newman Jr. said Latroy Sampson, 38, was found guilty on Aug. 10 following a three-day trial presided over by Judge DeAndrea Benjamin. Deputy Solicitor Riley Maxwell and Assistant Solicitor Croom Hunter prosecuted the case.
Stone’s body was found outside her home at 417 S. Garden St., Winnsboro, by Winnsboro Department of Public Safety Offices at 3:50 a.m. on July 4, 2014. Freddie Lorick, Chief of Public Safety, said shortly after the incident that Stone’s son, 18-year-old Matthew Stone, was awakened in the early morning hours of July 4 by the sounds of an altercation taking place outside the home. Matthew came out of the house and was met by Sampson coming from around the side of the home. Sampson reportedly grabbed Matthew by the hair and tried to physically pull him back around to the side of the house, but Matthew slipped away and Sampson fled on foot. A short time later, Matthew ventured around to the south side of the house and discovered the body of his mother.
An EMS crew arrived on the heels of Public Safety officers, but their attempts to revive Stone were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Solicitor’s Office said an autopsy later revealed the cause of death to have been strangulation, and DNA evidence found on Stone’s neck matched that of Sampson.
Sampson managed to elude police for nearly two week before he was apprehended in Rochester, N.Y. on July 25, 2014. Rochester police officers were responding to a report of a suspicious person in a local neighborhood that morning when they came upon Sampson, whom they noticed was carrying a handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants. Upon questioning, Sampson reportedly told officers he was wanted in S.C. for murder and officers detained him without incident. He was later extradited to S.C. to face murder charges.
At the time of Stone’s murder, Sampson had just recently been released from prison, Lorick said. Records from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) state that Sampson was incarcerated in 1998 for an armed robbery conviction, as well as for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. In March of 2014, he was arrested for public disorderly conduct. A month later, he was charged with trespassing and failure to comply with the direction of a police officer.
Sampson’s list of prior charges in S.C. dates back to 1996 when he was arrested in March of that year by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and charged with second degree lynching. The following September, Sampson was again picked up by the Sheriff’s Office and charged with strong-armed robbery and armed robbery with a deadly weapon. None of those charges merited a conviction, however.
In November of 1996, Sampson was once again arrested by Sheriff’s deputies, this time charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was sentenced to six years, but the sentence was suspended upon five years of probation. One month later, Sampson found himself in the Kirkland penitentiary following a conviction for assaulting a police officer.
