Photo: Austin Police Department
A former Texas police officer has pleaded guilty to killing his pregnant girlfriend in 2015 and agreed to serve a life sentence without parole, according to multiple news outlets.
On Monday, VonTrey Clark, 36, appeared in front of a Bastrop County district judge and reversed his not guilty plea.
After his admission of guilt, family members of Samantha Dean — who was killed in a murder-for-hire plot — began to read aloud their victim impact statements.
“You stole my favorite person,” Dean’s sister Taylor Dean stated in court,according to theAustin American Statesman. “But that’s not all. You stole an innocent child. You stole my niece. It’s incredible that someone so small could bring so much joy.”
AP/Shutterstock
Kevin Watson, Freddie Smith.AP/Shutterstock; Harris County
In September of this year, Watson was arrested and charged with murder. Initially, he pleaded not guilty but amended his plea to guilty. He will be serving 35 years in prison.
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Smith was also charged with murder, but he has not entered a plea. His arraignment hearing is set for Jan. 6, theAustin America Statesmanreports.
Meanwhile, Dean’s family is still reeling from the crime that took her and her unborn child, who she had named Madeline, away from them.
Shortly after the incident, Dean’s mother Kimberlyspoke to PEOPLE about the joyshe brought to her family. Kimberly and her husband Kelvin made a nursery, which remained untouched at the time.
“I don’t have the heart or emotion to take any of it down,” Kimberly said in 2015.
On Feb. 7, 2015, Samantha’s body was transported from Lockhart, Texas, where the autopsy was performed, to her hometown of San Antonio, about an hour away. Kimberly says she wasn’t prepared for what they witnessed during the drive: Hundreds of police cars joining the procession, and people saluting them at every overpass.
source: people.com
