A local man was sentenced to 11 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to a drive-by shooting in March 2019.
Matthew La-Ron Samuel, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of committing a terroristic act, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and was sentenced to 11 years with an additional count of failure to appear and court costs in the case expunged for time served since his last arrest on Aug. 18, 2020.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on March 16, 2019, a local man reported a shooting at his residence in the 100 block of Clingstone Way in Garland County by a known suspect, identified as Samuel.
The victim told Garland County sheriff's investigators Samuel fired multiple shots at his house. He said he knew Samuel "from the neighborhood" and had seen him multiple times previously in the vehicle used during the shooting.
He stated he was on his front porch when a black Dodge Charger pulled up in the driveway next door where his cousin was staying at the time. He said he saw his cousin come outside and approach the Charger.
He said he heard "a loud crack" and realized it was gunshots so he ran to the rear of his residence "for cover." The Charger left the scene so the victim went inside his residence to check on his wife and children.
The Charger returned a few moments later and the driver fired more shots at the victim's residence. The affidavit notes about nine bullet holes were later discovered by investigators in the side of the victim's house.
There were also 11 shell casings found in the street nearby, including 9-mm and 22LR casings, with the two calibers of shells located about 60 feet apart.
The affidavit notes this was "consistent with the victim's claim that the suspect fired on two occasions and the shots sounded different." A warrant was later issued for Samuel's arrest and he was taken into custody on March 27, 2019.
Samuel was released on April 7, 2019, and pleaded not guilty to the charge on July 1, 2019. It was set for trial at one point for Jan. 8, 2020, and then reset for March 12, 2020, and later continued again. Samuel failed to appear for one hearing on Aug. 10 and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was taken into custody on Aug. 18 and had remained in custody since then and the case was finally set for a disposition hearing on Monday.