A 28-year-old man with ties to Sampson County will likely spend his life behind bars after a Duplin jury found him guilty on a laundry list of charges, including murder.
Dexture Shyheme Smith, whose address in court records is listed as Roseboro, was sentenced Wednesday to life without the opportunity of parole for the first-degree murder of Reginald Blackmore of Bowdens Road, just outside of Warsaw.
In addition, Resident Superior Court Judge Augustus Willis handed down additional sentences of a minimum 73 months and a maximum 100 months for burglary and a minimum 14-26 months for possession of a firearm by a felon, all crimes connected to the Aug. 30, 2022 murder.
Smith, court records show, will serve out his sentences at the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.
The sentencing came on the heels of the jury trial, which began Nov. 17 in Duplin County, with assistant District Attorney Jason McGuirt and senior assistant DA Lori Carroll representing the state and public defender Niccoya Dobson representing Smith.
According to a release from the office of District Attorney Ernie Lee, during the eight-day trial, the state presented evidence showing that Smith shot and killed the 51-year-old Blackmore during the early morning hours following a breaking and entering at his residence.
Records show that a year prior to the shooting Smith had become the stepson of the victim.
Smith was apprehended the day of the murder by Sampson County Sheriff’s deputies, who located him outside of Roseboro.
Witnesses from the Warsaw Police Department, the Duplin County Sheriff’s Department and the Sampson Sheriff’s Department, along with expert witnesses from the state testified in the case, presenting an array of forensic evidence including that tied to cell phone use and text messaging.
The jury deliberated for nearly four hours before returning the guilty verdicts.
Lee’s office noted in the release that it had been a “challenging” prosecution requiring many weeks of preparation, meeting with witnesses, reviewing lab reports and reviewing phone and cellular evidence.
In all, the state called 15 witnesses, many of whom were coordinated by administrative assistant Amy Hedgpeth, Lee said.
“This office appreciates the work of all the law enforcement and expert witnesses involved,” the district attorney noted in his release. “This was a successful prosecution in which the defendant was held accountable for causing the tragic and unnecessary death of Regional Blackmore.”
This isn’t the first time Smith has been in trouble with law enforcement.
The Sampson Independent first reported on Smith’s run-ins with the law in December 2019 when he was arrested and tied to a string of thefts in Sampson and Johnston counties.
Smith, whose address in 2019 was listed as 10315 Wake Robin Lane, Charlotte, was charged with nine counts of breaking and entering, eight counts of larceny after breaking and entering and eight counts of possession of stolen goods.
Sampson County Sheriff’s deputies took Smith into custody back in 2019 at a Hobbton High School basketball game leveling the outstanding warrants from Johnston County. Deputies were aware of the outstanding warrants from Johnston and of pending warrants in Sampson related to a string of break-ins and thefts, however the Sampson charges were not immediately served.
Smith was charged on Johnston warrants with three counts of breaking and entering, two counts of larceny after breaking and entering and three counts of felony conspiracy, according to Sampson County Detention Center records.
A second suspect, Carlton DeWayne Bratten Jr., 25, was also arrested in December 2019 on two dozen felony counts in connection with the rash of incidents in Sampson, as well as to some in Johnston County.
The charges against both Smith and Bratten stem from the investigation into break-ins on five different areas across Sampson, including Bonnetsville Road, Old Drag Strip Road, Panhandle Road, New Hope Church Road and Hobbton Highway, as well as other thefts in Johnston.
On Nov. 27, a breaking and entering was reported on Timothy Road where several gaming systems and other gaming items were reported stolen by the homeowner.
The homeowner recorded the serial numbers on their gaming system, which allowed investigators to track the stolen items to GameStop in Clinton. Authorities were able to track who sold the items to the store, and arrested Bratten Dec. 5 on charges mirroring those Smith faced.