Samantha Elizabeth Dean, a 29-year-old woman of Caucasian ethnicity, was found shot to death in her car on February 4, 2015, in Bastrop, Texas. She was seven months pregnant at the time of her death. Samantha worked as a Victim Services coordinator for the Kyle Police Department. The scene was staged to look like a drug deal gone wrong, but investigations revealed a more sinister plot.
Samantha had been in a tumultuous relationship with former Austin Police Department officer VonTrey
Clark. Clark, who was 32 years old, had been pressuring Samantha to have an abortion, but she refused. Investigators discovered entries in Samantha's journal expressing her fear for her life and mentioning Clark's threats.
In June 2015, Aaron Williams, a friend of Clark's acquaintance, informed detectives that Clark had offered $5,000 to have Samantha and her unborn child killed. Clark, along with Kevin Leo Watson and Freddie Lee Smith, orchestrated a murder-for-hire scheme. Clark lured Samantha to Bastrop under false pretenses, where Smith shot her twice in the head, and Clark fired an additional shot. Watson helped plan the crime and provided transportation.
Clark fled to Indonesia but was arrested and extradited to the United States in 2015. He pleaded guilty to capital murder in December 2019 and was sentenced to life without parole. Watson pleaded guilty to murder in 2019, and Smith was convicted of capital murder in 2022.
The case highlighted the tragic consequences of a violent and coercive relationship, as well as the lengths to which Clark went to avoid responsibility for his unborn child. Samantha's death left a lasting impact on her family and community, who remember her as a vibrant and caring individual.
