During the more than 20 months from the time a 2-year-old was found dead to finally charging the man Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office investigators believe is responsible for the child’s death, Capt. Todd Hutchens said he always thought about “doing right by the boy.” 

“Certainly, to be able to get justice for the child is important to us,” Hutchens said. “We are speaking for him, because he can’t.”

Lenorace Sampson, 23, was arrested Monday following an intensive investigation into the Oct. 6, 2023 death of the 2-year-old. 

On that day, the Bulloch County 911 Emergency Operations Center received a call about a 2-year-old not breathing at 106 Lindsay Court in Statesboro, which is in a group of apartments off Cypress Lake Road. 

Law enforcement from the Sheriff’s Office and the Statesboro Police Department responded to the scene along with Bulloch County EMS. Lifesaving efforts by all responding personnel were unsuccessful, according to the release.

Sampson is accused of causing the death of the child by blunt force trauma.  

According to the indictment, “while in the commission of the offense of cruelty to children (on Oct. 5, 2023) in the first degree … (Sampson) did cause the death … by blunt force trauma of the abdomen.”

“We were able to make a determination from the crime lab that the child died from blunt force trauma,” Hutchens said. “He had a significant injury to his liver and also to his head and other parts of his body.”

A lengthy investigation by the Sheriff’s Office consisting of multiple interviews of suspects and witnesses, conversations and meetings with the Medical Examiner’s office of the GBI in Pooler and discussions with the Ogeechee Circuit District Attorney’s Office, resulted in the case being presented to the Grand Jury for the Superior Court of Bulloch County.

“There are many reasons there's a time frame and a delay from October of 2023 until the arrest of Sampson,” Hutchens said Thursday during a press conference at the Sheriff’s Office. “Multiple interviews were being done, waiting on and going through crime lab and autopsy reports. We've had discussions and consultations with the medical examiner in regards to the autopsy findings and photographs. We've met with the district attorney’s office and spoken with them multiple times. 

“So, as a result of all of the investigation, we were able to get the case presented to the grand jury this past week, which handed down a true bill, that resulted in a bench warrant for the arrest of Lenorace Sampson.”

Charges

Sampson is charged with two counts of felony murder, two counts of cruelty to children in the 1st degree and one count of aggravated assault/family violence. He is currently in the Bulloch County Jail awaiting further court proceedings.

Sampson, who was 21 in 2023, was dating the child’s mother at that time, but was not related to the child. Hutchens said Sampson was living with the child and his mother in the West Palm Beach area of South Florida. Sampson had family living in the Statesboro area, so the couple moved into the residence on Lindsay Court. 

While no one claimed to have witnessed what or who caused the child’s fatal injuries, Hutchens said that based on initial interviews, Sampson became the focus of the investigation right away.

“As a result of all the interviews done and interviewing family members along with Sampson and (the mother), we were able to put all the pieces together and present the case.

Hutchens said that “six to eight people” were living in the residence at the time of the incident. 

He said all the family members and all other people in the residence were interviewed to “eliminate” them as suspect. Hutchens said in the interviews the subjects “were not forthcoming with information.”

During the 20 months between the date of the incident and his arrest on Monday, Hutchens said Sampson’s movements were monitored as he traveled back and forth to South Florida several times.

The Sheriff’s Office picked up Sampson in Statesboro Monday after the arrest warrant was issued, but “if he had been in South Florida, we would have gone down there and brought him back,” Hutchens said.

Since his arrest, Hutchens said Sampson has not been “cooperative.”

“He has not been very forthcoming,” Hutchens said. “He has been willing to discuss things with us other than being truthful, in our mind. He's basically trying to lead us down other roads and said he had nothing to do with this. However, based on the evidence and information we've gathered, we feel very comfortable that he is culpable for the death of this child.”

Hutchens said Sampson has no previous criminal record and there were no official complaints called in to law enforcement about domestic violence issues between Sampson and the child’s mother.

“We were told by family members that there was some verbal abuse and some pushing and shoving, but there were no signs of visible injuries to the mother,” he said.

Hutchens said investigators are pleased they were finally able to get a Grand Jury indictment charging Sampson and moving to the next step of gaining a conviction.

Anyone with information related to the case, is requested to contact Investigator Pre Cone at (912) 764-1703.