Former Austin cop had 7-months-pregnant girlfriend killed because she did not want to have an abortion
BASTROP COUNTY, TEXAS: A former Texas officer pleaded guilty to organizing the murder of his seven-months-pregnant girlfriend after she refused to abort their baby.
VonTrey Clark, 36, had pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of arranging to kill his then 29-year-old girlfriend Samantha Dean, in November. However, he changed his stance this past week as the case prepared to head to trial, where he faced the prospect of death penalty, according to the Statesman.
Dean, a police crime victim counselor who was carrying Clark's child, was fatally shot behind a deserted building in Bastrop County on February 4, 2015.
Following the shooting, Clark had fled to Bali, Indonesia, in July 2015, and been fired from his position in the Austin Police Department. He was detained by the Indonesian police the following month, and in September, he was extradited to the US by federal agents.
In October, he was indicted on a capital murder charge and had spent the last four years denying the allegations before suddenly admitting to the crime this past week.
Prosecutors said Clark was with another woman when he got Dean pregnant and had urged her to get an abortion. When she refused, he hired two men — Kevin L Watson and Freddie Smith — and offered $5,000 to kill her.
As per the plea agreement, Clark will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Dean's friends and family were at the Bastrop County District Court to hear Clark's confession.
Afterward, Dean's sister Taylor read an emotional victim impact statement and said, "The one person that I can turn to for moral advice or support is gone, thanks to you. You stole my favorite person."
Dean's mother, Kimberley, also spoke in court and told Clark that she had not only lost a daughter but a granddaughter as well.
"We are two less people because of you. I am the mother to Sam and grandma to Madeline (the granddaughter)," she said. "There isn't enough paper to write down all my feelings. There are no apologies grand enough to minimize my disgust for your existence. You have issued all of us a life sentence."
Watson was indicted by a Bastrop County grand jury in November 2015 and had pleaded not guilty before changing his plea this September. He is expected to serve 35 years behind bars.
Smith was indicted on a murder charge earlier this year and is scheduled to be arraigned on January 6.