CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Five Kanawha County residents admitted to their roles in the August 2014 Kanawha City Foodland robbery and shooting during plea hearings Monday in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
John Proctor III, 19, and Levi Lanham, 18, both pleaded guilty to first degree robbery with the use of a firearm. The pair entered the Foodland last Aug. 14 and demanded money. Proctor admitted Monday he shot Foodland clerk Shawna Sampson in the chest. Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Maryclaire Akers said Sampson continues to undergo extensive physical therapy.
“Ms. Sampson is a very brave lady and she confronted Mr. Proctor and he shot her,” Akers said. “A lot of robberies (in Kanawha County) don’t turn out that way. In my book ,she’s a very brave lady.”
Guilty pleas also came Monday from Telisa McCauley, 23, and Alisyn Proctor, 20.
They were in the getaway car. McCauley pleaded guilty to first degree robbery with a firearm and Proctor to a charge of assault during the commission of a felony. The pair was on the run for several days after the crime. They were eventually arrested in Florida.
Ricky Patterson, 19, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. He said he was paid $30 to walk into the store before the robbery to make sure no police were there. A juvenile was arrested on a similar charge.
Akers said good work by Charleston police officers was a key in the case.
“They acted quickly. They located one of the defendants, Levi Lanham, very quickly. They were able to get what happened from Mr. Lanham,” she said.
The robbery convictions carry sentences of 10-100 years in prison. Alisyn Proctor faces 2-10 years behind bars, Patterson 1-5 years.
Akers said it’s possible she’ll argue stiffer sentences for John Proctor and McCauley but will tell the judge of the cooperation police and prosecutors received from Lanham, Alisyn Proctor and Patterson.
“All cases are different. All people are different. Everybody comes into it with different facts and different things about themselves that I think the court will take into consideration,” Akers said.
All of the defendants will be sentenced by Kanawha County Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit July 25.
Akers said having multiple defendants was a plus in the investigation and prosecution.
“In this case it worked out well,” she said. “Some of those people were willing to cooperate with us if we needed to go to trial and they would have helped us get convictions on those who wouldn’t have agreed to plead.”