The 7-day trial of Tyrone Samuel, the Northumberland man now convicted of kidnapping and murdered 28-year-old Ahreal Smith was scheduled to begin this week, but trial wasn’t necessary because he pled guilty to both offenses.
As previously reported, Smith disappeared from her job at the Little Sue convenience store in Claraville on the night of January 12 after she headed behind the building toward the dumpster with a bag of trash.
At the Oct. 23 plea hearing, Northumberland Commonwealth’s Attorney Jane Wrightson explained that at around 5 a.m. on the January 13, the morning after Smith went missing, a co-worker found her car outside of the Northumberland County convenience store still running and called police.
Evidence that implicated Samuel included an analysis of cell phone records that showed his cell phone was the only one in the area before Smith disappeared and was near the store when she went toward the dumpster and never returned.
Surveillance footage from the nearby Food Lion confirmed he waited at the grocery store ahead of closing time for Little Sue and left near the time Smith was finishing her shift.
Cell phone data allowed authorities to track Samuel’s movement from the vicinity of the store to his home. Once a search warrant was obtained, reddish-brown stains were found in the bedroom where he was located when he was taken into custody. The phone police had tracked was also in the room.
According to Wrightson’s evidence list of evidence, Samuel had scratches and deep bite marks when he was arrested. And the stains found in the bedroom were confirmed to be Smith’s blood.
After Samuel was in custody, on January 18, while searching the property around Samuel’s home, authorities saw a human foot in a well that was filled with debris. That well was excavated leading to the discovery of Smith’s body.
The autopsy reports showed extensive trauma to various parts of her body and confirmed asphyxia as a contributing cause of her death.
According to the Rappahannock Record, Smith’s sister Lydia took the stand during the Oct. 23 hearing and told Samuel, “The day you do die, there will only be one place you go to, and that’s the burning pits of hell. Smith’s father told Samuel he was “a killer, a monster, a predator.”
Court records show Samuel’s criminal history includes charges for drug distribution, forcible sodomy, abduction with the intent to defile, and child neglect/abuse. Under the plea agreement, Wrightson agreed not to revoke previously suspended sentences.
Samuel agreed to plead guilty to 1st degree murder and received a sentence of 40 years with 13 suspended. He also pled guilty to abduction by force and received 10 years with all 10 suspended. This means he faces an active sentence of 27 years.
Wrightson described Samuel, who is now 52, as being in poor health, and told the court that “he will die in prison,” said the Rappahannock Record.
