On a Saturday afternoon in December 2015, a dispute between two men in Sikeston, Missouri, escalated to a fatal conclusion. Samuel Lee Sanders III, a 35-year-old man, was found lying in the roadway in front of the Westside Liquor store with a gunshot wound to his chest. The shooting, which occurred on December 19, 2015, was the result of a physical altercation that turned deadly. First responders transported Sanders to a local medical center, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
At the time of his death, Sanders was a husband and father, and worked as an independent commercial truck driver.
The Sikeston Department of Public Safety quickly identified a suspect in the homicide, 33-year-old Antoine Harris-Applewhite. An investigation revealed that the altercation preceding the shooting was allegedly rooted in Harris-Applewhite's belief that Sanders had stolen marijuana from him. Seeking revenge, Harris-Applewhite confronted Sanders, leading to a fight that ended with the fatal shot. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. He was considered armed and dangerous, prompting a public appeal for information on his whereabouts.
The subsequent legal proceedings against Antoine Harris-Applewhite faced a significant challenge when it was revealed that the Sikeston Department of Public Safety had lost crucial surveillance video from the liquor store. The defense attorney for Harris-Applewhite had sought this evidence for over two years and even attempted to have the first-degree murder charge dismissed due to the missing footage. However, a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigator later discovered the video on a computer hard drive at an undisclosed location. While the recovered video showed the fight between Harris-Applewhite and Sanders, it did not capture the moment of the shooting itself.
In July 2019, a jury convicted Antoine Harris-Applewhite of second-degree murder and other related charges. That September, the now 37-year-old was sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison for his role in the death of Samuel Sanders. Following his conviction, Harris-Applewhite appealed the court's decision, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel on several grounds, including the failure to sever the firearm possession charge from the murder charge and failures to object to certain witness testimony. However, the appellate court ultimately affirmed the judgment of the motion court, upholding the conviction and sentence.
