The boyfriend of a pregnant Mississippi woman has been arrested and charged in her murder. Terrence Sample, 33, is charged with kidnapping and 2 counts of capital murder in the deaths of Makayla Winston, 21, and her unborn baby.
Sample, accompanied by his lawyer, turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday.
Makayla was on her way to Sample’s Goodman, Mississippi home to show him the latest sonogram of their unborn baby when she went missing last Thursday. She was about nine months pregnant and due to give birth on July 4.
Makayla’s 4-door Pontiac Grand Prix was found abandoned on Friday at the intersection of Highway 14 and I-55 with the keys still in the ignition.
The car radio was missing, and a pair of her shoes were found inside the car. Her cellphone was found discarded in the grass near the car. Authorities analyzed the phone and discovered text messages had all been erased.
Makayla’s mother, Yvette Brown, pleaded with whoever had her to let her go.
“I just want them to know, let my baby go. let her come home and enjoy her first child because we love her,” she said during a press conference. “We’re going to take care of the baby no matter what. So I just want my baby to come home.”
Winston’s aunt, Annie Kimbrough added, “She loved this baby she was carrying. She loved a man, this baby’s daddy. She was a happy young woman.”
A man working on a dirt road south of Lexington, Mississippi, discovered Makayla’s body on Monday, Sheriff Willie March confirmed. Her body was taken to the state crime lab for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
March said Sample was uncooperative when he was questioned about Makayla’s murder.
“He was questioned … and he didn’t really answer the questions about what he knew about her but anyway we kept him because we have received some information that he was with her that night around 1 o’clock.”
A witness told authorities he spotted a white SUV parked behind Makayla’s Grand Prix on Thursday.
Sample is currently being held without bail while he awaits a hearing.
