21-Year-Old Nigerian Student Arrested, Charged With The Murder Of An 89-Year-Old Woman In America

A Nigerian born Texas Tech student, Sampson Blake Oguntope, 21, is being charged with murder in regard to a fatal Slaton shooting which left one woman dead and another injured.

He is currently in police custody at the Lubbock County Detention Center and his bail was raised to at least $5 million — formerly $500,000.

Steven Wheeler, chief of the Slaton Police Department, said originally Oguntope, a Houston native, was a person of interest regarding the homicide and he was detained at the Detention Center on charges of theft.

Slaton police found Faye Gray, 89, and her female caretaker, 21, had both sustained gunshot wounds. Gray was pronounced dead at the scene while the younger woman was transported to University Medical Center for treatment. Her condition is described as stable.

Lubbock police asked that the caretaker's name not be revealed because of the sensitivity of the case.

Wheeler said the police are not releasing any additional information regarding charges against Oguntope at this time.
At 8:12 a.m. authorities received a complaint that a black male had made contact with a Slaton resident and was asking personal questions, including what times the resident went to work and would return home. Wheeler said the resident said Oguntope was asking if a woman around 21 years old lived at the home.

Authorities later received information that Oguntope's white Honda was found at the Knights Inn on Highway 84 near Slaton.

When police confronted Oguntope at the inn, he told them he was looking for a woman he had been talking to and went to the wrong address.

When confronted about why he was at Knights Inn, Oguntope said he wanted to use the hotel's wireless Internet.

According to a statement released by the Slaton Police Department, "Sampson did not seem to be nervous or act suspicious to the officers (and) Sampson was not wanted for any warrants at the time of this contact."

The Slaton Police Department then received a call at 11:48 a.m. claiming there was a white female bleeding within the 1400 block of West Crosby Street in Slaton.

Wheeler said Lt. Trevor Barnes was the first officer on the scene and advised the police chief to investigate a residence near the end of the 1400 block. Wheeler said he and Slaton detective David Wood arrived at 1480 W. Crosby St. and found an elderly woman dead at the scene, appearing to have sustained a gunshot wound.

Barnes and another officer told Wheeler that the younger victim stated the intruder was a black male with a white car.

Wheeler said authorities discovered the person of interest lived in Lubbock and was enrolled as a student at Tech. After contacting the Texas Tech Police Department, they found Oguntope's vehicle was entered under Tech property.  Tech PD, DPS and the Texas Rangers tried locating him on campus, and the Lubbock SWAT team set surveillance on Oguntope's residence in north Lubbock at 3620 Marshall St.

Oguntope was arrested in Lubbock at his address. The Lubbock County Sheriff's Office said two other individuals — Charles Henry Burgess, 28, and Philip Michael Murphy, 26 — were also arrested for attempting to prevent officers from conducting an investigation at the property.