CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — An El Salvadorian national is going to prison for life with the chance for parole in 15 years after murdering a Jefferson County woman.
David Calderon, 47, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty earlier this month under Alford/Kennedy circumstances in the death of 32-year-old Samantha Dailey. Dailey’s badly burned body was found underneath a couch off Golf Course Road in Berkeley County but investigators believe the murder took place in Jefferson County.
As part of that plea agreement, Calderon was sentenced to life in prison but could be eligible for parole in 19 years following consecutive sentences on other charges.
Dailey’s family members spoke during Wednesday’s sentencing. Her mother Melissa Dailey had her daughter’s ashes with her on the podium as she spoke.
Calderon did not apologize. He did say through an interpreter “God will judge us individually and he knows the reality of everything.”
Samantha Dailey’s uncle, Joshua Dailey, said he wishes West Virginia had the death penalty.
He says law enforcement and immigration dropped the ball by allowing Calderon to roam freely in the country after being denied entry by Canada. He cited two violent crimes Calderon was implicated in:
About a dozen family members and friends of the victim gathered in the courtroom. Some of the victim impact statements were read aloud.
Samantha Jane Dailey was remembered as “a loving, devoted single mother and a friend to all” by her uncle Joshua, who said since Samantha was born when he was 11 years old, he always felt it was his job to protect her. He said he is tormented by how she died “because I couldn’t protect my niece in her last minutes.”
“I stay awake at night. At work, I lose focus,” he said. “I think about her last moments and what I would have done.”
As for those last moments, “We will never know because like a child, he will not tell us” how Samantha died.
“She was a bright light in this world and it can be said she never knew a stranger,” Joshua Dailey said. “But it took a stranger to extinguish her light.”
Joshua Dailey decried the fact that Calderon will now be imprisoned with predictable food and housing, and hope since he has the possibility of parole. “We will not receive justice while he receives privileges he deprived Samantha of.”
Dailey tells The Panhandle News Network he believes the system failed his niece because Calderon was not immediately turned over to immigration authorities when he had been pulled over for traffic infractions. He levied criticism at local law enforcement for not apprehending Calderon following two violent incidents in April.
Assistant Jefferson County Prosecutor Adam Ward called Calderon “a dangerous and violent individual” who deprived Samantha Dailey’s family of closure and of the knowledge of how her life ended.
Judge David Hammer listened intently to the speakers but in the end was constrained by the terms of the plea agreement. He promised that their statements would follow the defendant wherever he was incarcerated and would be entered into the record to be brought up at any future attempts at parole. He also assured the court that federal immigration authorities would take Calderon into custody if he ever was granted parole. “The federal government has a detainer on the defendant and if he is ever granted parole, the federal government will immediately take him into custody. He will be deported. He will never walk the streets again.”
Assistant Jefferson County Prosecutor Adam Ward had testified during the plea hearing that he felt the state might have difficulty proving premeditation, which is why the plea agreement was reached.
Calderon was in an orange jumpsuit with his hands and feet shackled during the sentencing. An interpreter translated the proceedings for him. Through his defense attorney, requested medical care for what he described as a tumor on the defendant’s leg. The judge said Calderon’s medical care would be dispensed by the prison system with an eye toward avoiding cruel and unusual punishment.
The defendant also reportedly asked to be segregated from the general population, which Judge Hammer said was not in his position to decide.
Samantha Remembered
Among those giving statements was Julie Shackelford, Samantha’s aunt. She called her “a radiant soul.”
“Her presence made people feel truly known,” Shackelford said, “She left an indelible impression on all who knew her.”
Samantha Dailey had a special knack for working with older people, according to her family.
Janie Dailey is Samantha’s grandmother. “She was a beautiful soul,” she said. “Fun, caring.”
“She said she would take care of me when I got old,” Dailey said of her granddaughter. “She did not deserve this fate, leaving behind two beautiful children.”
Janie Dailey spoke directly to the defendant, who revealed in court earlier in the month that he is the father of a six-year-old daughter. “You have denied your own daughter” a life with her father in committing the crime. “You are the embodiment of a monster,” she told Calderon. “You do not deserve the possibility of parole,” saying he denied Samantha the ability to even hug her children. “Your hands stole our Samantha from us.”
Amanda Baughan has been a friend of the family. Of Samantha, she said, “She made people feel seen, safe, and welcomed.”
During the hearing, Judge Hammer told Samantha’s uncle Joshua that he believed that Samantha’s story is already having an impact. He talked about a directive issued to law enforcement around the state by Governor Morrisey earlier this year to cooperate with Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Joshua Dailey says he will continue to petition leaders on the state and national level to make changes to prevent what happened to his niece.