Cameron Wright in a Fresno courtroom at his sentencing on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in the killing of Samantha Sharp, inset. (Screenshots from NBC Fresno affiliate KSEE)
A man who admitted to being high on methamphetamine when he stabbed his ex-girlfriend up to 30 times as she was on her hands and knees saying “I love you,” and then dismembering her body and disposing of her remains in a California orchard, was sentenced to 55 years to life in prison.
Cameron Wright, 22, was sentenced Wednesday in the January killing of Samantha Sharp, 24, after entering a guilty plea on May 18, authorities said.
NBC Fresno affiliate KSEE was in the courtroom as family members gave gut-wrenching testimony.
“She was so in love with you, and eventually, you stole her life from her,” said her cousin Jennifer Lewing, through tears. “You stole her from her family, and you stole her from her beautiful children.”
“What made you do this? You destroyed our lives,” said Sharp’s mother Michelle Hill, the Fresno Bee reported. “You took her life from us, and now we are taking your life from you and your family.”
Brandon Loudermilk, Sharp’s younger brother, also spoke.
“When I first met you, I told you to take care of my sister,” said Loudermilk. “You told me you were going to be like a bigger brother and that you would protect my sister. And then you did this, Cameron.”
“I was on drugs,” Wright responded, according to the Bee.
Wright apologized and denied being a follower of Satan, as he had been accused by a family member.
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“I am not a devil worshiper. I was on drugs. I was on methamphetamine,” he said, sobbing. “I am sorry.”
Fresno County Superior Court Judge Mark Cullers said the murder was horrendous.
“There have been plenty of people high on meth, but not many people deliberate on killing the mother of their children, then go ahead and kill them, dismember them and hide the body parts,” Cullers said, according to the Fresno Bee report. The judge emphasized that Sharp was on her hands and knees and saying “I love you” as Wright viciously attacked her, the story noted.
Keegan Smith, his public defender, declined to comment.
On Jan. 9, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by someone saying Wright claimed to have killed his girlfriend, dismembered her body and spread her remains throughout different locations in the county, officials said.
Sheriff deputies responded to the locations Wright provided and discovered Sharp’s remains in an orchard. Shortly after finding the remains, Wright was booked into the Fresno County Jail, prosecutors said.
At the time, the couple had a newborn, now in the care of Sharp’s side of the family while permanent custody is being resolved in court, the Bee reported.
The victim’s uncle James Hill told the sobbing defendant, “You’ve devastated our family, man. I’ve got your son, and I’m going to raise him. I’m going to raise him like he’s my own. I’m going to let him know someday what you did to his mother.”
The judge noted the other tragedy in the case, that of the “innocent child who now must navigate the world without the love and support of his mother,” the newspaper reported.
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