Crime & Safety

New 'Person of Interest' Revealed in Slaying of Grayson High Student

Police believe robbery was the objective. Three teens already charged appeared in court on Friday.

The three teens already charged in the December 19, 2012 murder of 14-year-old Paul Sampleton, of Grayson, appeared in front of a Gwinnett County magistrate judge in connection with the crime on Friday, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Two of the teens, Romaine Stewart, 18, and Achiel Morgan, 15, are charged with armed robbery and Larnell Sillah, 15, is charged murder. The AJC reports that information revealed in the trial included that the motive was robbery.

Sillah, the only one charged with murder so far, is allegedly the leader of a gang named the “Young Wavy Goons.” His uncle, Andrew Murray, is named as another “person of interest.” A silver BMW reportedly seen cruising the neighborhood in the days before and immediately following the homicide is reportedly registered to Murray.

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During testimony, it was revealed that sneakers allegedly connected to Sampleton were found in the Sillah home where Murray and a friend have a makeshift living space. In addition, Murray and Sillah reportedly tried to peddle a "Billionaire Boys Club” sweatshirt the afternoon of the murder.

Sampleton’s mother is reported to have purchased the same shirt for her son just days prior to his murder. Items stolen during the murder included about eight pair of sneakers, three flat-screen TVs, a gaming system, clothes, a camera, headphones and a tablet, the AJC reported.

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Police testified that text messages retrieved from Sillah’s phone included a text message from him on Dec. 20 purporting to have an X-box and a 45-caliber handgun for sale.

Sampleton, a student at GHS, was discovered by his father in his Grayson home, bound and shot in the head three times, at about 2:40 p.m. on the last day of school before the Christmas break.

The three teens, all fellow GHS students, are reported to have confessed separately to their part in the crime, including that some of the plan was hatched while riding the school bus. Sillah’s attorney, however, is reported to have told the court that there is no forensic evidence connecting his client to the crime.

All three are being held without bond, Sillah and Morgan at the juvenile dentention facility in Gwinnett and Stewart in the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

Read this an other stories featuring Loganville and Grayson on Loganville-Grayson Patch.

Further reading:

  • 3 GHS Students arrested in the Homicide of 14-year-old Paul Sampleton
  • A Mother's Anguish - Candlelight Vigil for 14-year-old Victim


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