PRINCETON – After being warned repeatedly that a prison sentence of life with mercy did not assure him of being paroled after 15 years, a Mercer County man pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the May 2009 shooting death of a Bluefield woman.
Dennis Lamar Sampson Jr., 22, of Bluefield has been held without bond at the Southern Regional Jail near Beckley ever since being arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Kerri Lynn Hager, 30, of Bluefield. Sampson appeared Thursday in Mercer County Circuit Court to enter into a plea agreement.
Sampson flagged down the Cimmaron Coach that Hager was driving May 17, 2009, when she reached Rogers Street in Bluefield, boarded the van and later shot Hager four times. A passenger in the vehicle was not injured.
Hager attempted to drive to Bluefield Regional Medical Center, but ran off the road at the intersection of Carolina Avenue and Cherry Street. She died later at BRMC.
During Thursday’s plea hearing, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash told Judge William Sadler that Sampson became “enraged” with the passenger, who he believed had cheated him in a drug deal, and opened fire as he exited the van.
Hager was struck three times in the abdomen and once in the head. If a trial had taken place, the prosecution would have shown that Sampson then ran from the scene, dropping the ammunition clip from his gun. He was found hiding a short distance away and later confessed to investigators, Scott said.
Sadler asked Sampson a series of questions ranging whether he wanted to go ahead with the plea agreement, his current mental condition, and if he understood that he had the right to a trial by jury.
“Do you understand that you do not have to enter a plea of guilty?” Sadler asked
Sampson quietly replied, “Yes, sir.”
“Do you understand what I mean by trial by jury?” Sadler continued.
“Yes, sir,” Sampson said.
“Do you understand that you have the right to appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals if you are found guilty?”
“Yes,” Sampson said.
“Do you understand that you are giving up your right to a trial?” Sadler asked.
“Yes.”
After this review, Sadler read the indictment for first-degree murder as Sampson hung his head. Sadler asked Sampson how he wanted to plea.
“Guilty,” Sampson said quietly, hanging his head again as Sadler accepted the plea.
Before proceeding with sentencing, Sadler asked if any member of Hager’s family wished to make a statement. Her mother, Debbie Fisher of Bluefield, spoke directly to Sampson.
“I just want to say you took something that can never be replaced,” Fisher said, fighting back tears. “Why, why did you do that to her? She never hurt nobody. She never did nothing to nobody. She didn’t even know you.”
As Fisher spoke, Sampson put his hands to his head and rubbed his eyes. After the judge asked him if he wished to say anything, Sampson looked to Hager’s family.
“I’m sorry. I never meant it,” he said. “I hate myself for this, really. I know that there’s nothing I can do. I never meant to do it.”
Sadler then sentenced Sampson to life imprisonment with mercy. Under the plea agreement, charges of robbery first-degree and attempt to commit robbery first-degree were dismissed.
Sampson wept after Sadler called a brief recess as Hager’s family left the courtroom.
Outside the courtroom, Hager’s stepfather, Dale Fisher of Bluefield, said that she had three children: two girls, ages 12 and 4, and a 13-year-old son. He watched as Sampson was taken from the courtroom.
“Life with mercy isn’t enough time. He killed her,” Dale Fisher said.
Local News
Related Photos
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Dennis Lamar Sampson prepares to enter Judge William Sadler’s courtroom to enter a guilty plea in connection with the shooting death of Kerri Lynn Hager of Bluefield. Sampson received a sentence of life with mercy. Jon Bolt
Discussion
March 12, 2010
Life with mercy
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