In the early morning hours of August 9, 2018, the sound of gunshots pierced the quiet of a Junction City, Kansas neighborhood. Responding to the call at approximately 1:48 a.m., police arrived at the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 700 block of W. 11th Street. There, they discovered the body of 21-year-old Darian White, a Black / African American male resident of the city.
He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders, launching a homicide investigation into the young man's death.
The investigation into the killing of Darian White moved swiftly. Within days, the Junction City Police Department had identified and apprehended three individuals in connection with the crime. On August 15, 2018, authorities announced the arrests of 24-year-old Jacqueline Charda Sampson of Fort Riley, 18-year-old Cameron Michael Fontenot of Junction City, and a 17-year-old juvenile whose identity was not publicly released.
All three suspects were taken into custody on charges of first-degree murder and burglary. Jacqueline Sampson and Cameron Fontenot were booked into the Geary County Detention Center and held without bond. The juvenile suspect was detained at the North Central Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center. While the arrests marked a significant breakthrough in the case, the investigation remained active as authorities continued to piece together the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting in the parking lot.
