In the late summer of 2024, a burst of violence shattered the peace in a south Fargo apartment building, leaving a family and community to grapple with a sudden and tragic loss. On the afternoon of August 23rd, Sampson Bleh, a 35-year-old Black / African American man, was shot and fatally wounded in an apartment located in the 2200 block of 12th Avenue South. When police officers arrived at the scene, they found Bleh still conscious despite having been shot in the chest and right hamstring.
Emergency medical services provided immediate life-saving care before rushing him to a nearby hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into Sampson Bleh's death quickly pointed to a violent robbery. Court documents revealed that the motive behind the shooting was the theft of over 300 M30 Fentanyl pills. Surveillance footage from a nearby business captured the arrival of two men, later identified as Leo Dartoe and Geettoe Kamara, at the apartment building just minutes before the fatal shots were fired. The video shows the two men, along with two other individuals, entering the building. Moments later, the sound of gunshots is heard on the recording, and two of the individuals are seen fleeing the building. Dartoe is then seen exiting, tucking something into his waistband, followed by Kamara.
In the days and weeks that followed, law enforcement worked to bring those responsible to justice. The Fargo Police Department identified 34-year-old Leo Dartoe as the primary suspect in Bleh's murder and sought public assistance in locating him. Geettoe Kamara, a 30-year-old Fargo resident, was arrested and charged with accomplice to murder. Investigators found that Kamara had driven Dartoe to the location of the shooting. During questioning, Kamara admitted to taking the Fentanyl pills from Bleh's pockets after he had been shot but was still alive. However, the accomplice to murder charge against Kamara was later dropped. The search for the main suspect, Leo Dartoe, extended beyond North Dakota, with authorities tracking him to Philadelphia and eventually to Georgia, where he was arrested. Dartoe was then extradited back to Fargo to face charges in connection with Sampson Bleh's death.
