WACO, Texas (KXXV) — A man previously convicted of murdering a child was sentenced to life in prison, stemming from a domestic violence incident in 2023, the District Attorneys office of McLennan County announced on Wednesday.
Sampson Graves was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charges are from an incident on Aug. 26, 2023 when Waco Police responded to a 911 call in the 2500 block of Lake Shore Drive.
That's where Graves confronted his girlfriend in a parking lot of the Landings apartments and physically assaulted her, by hitting her in the face. Nearby witnesses saw Graves hit the woman, and one man who saw the assault stepped in to protect the victim. Graves then began to threaten the man as well.
After, Graves got in a pickup truck and started to ram the victim's car while she was in it. The good Samaritan helped the victim out of her car and the two began running, with Graves chasing them in his truck.
The victim and the good Samaritan were able to escape and Graves left the area, but Waco Police found and stopped him.
Prosecutors charged Graves with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for threatening both his girlfriend and the good Samaritan by driving a vehicle towards them.
At the trial, prosecutors presented testimony from witnesses including Graves' girlfriend, the good Samaritan, another eye witness, and police officers. Jurors quickly returned a guilty verdict on both counts.
Aggravated assault normally carries a punishment range of two to 20 years. However, prosecutors raised Graves' punishment range up to five years to life in prison because of a 1993 conviction for murder, which he was sentence to 25 years.
During Graves' punishment phase, prosecutors presented evidence that his 1993 murder conviction stemmed from the beating death of his then-girlfriend's one-year-old child. The child's mother was called to testify in Wednesday's punishment phase.
Jurors sentenced Graves to life in prison on both counts. By law, those sentences with run concurrently and Graves will not be eligible for parole for 30 calendar years.
"Instead of focusing on the Defendant, this case exemplifies the bold, caring citizens that live in our county. We had two good Samaritans come to the aid of a brave victim, at risk to themselves, and a jury who, with their verdict of two life sentences, assured that this is the end to this Defendant's reign of violence in our community."
Graves' case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kristi DeCluitt and Kristen Duron, with the assistance of Investigator James Pack.
