| Inmate name: | Lorenza Andre Sam |
| Charge description: | Lorenza Andre Sam was convicted of Capital Murder by a 240th District Court jury on July 30, 2013. Sam, a 34 year-old Louisiana man, was indicted after robbing and killing his former employer in 2010. Sam was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole because the State did not seek the death penalty. Presiding Judge Thomas R. Culver, III sentenced Sam immediately following the jurys verdict. According to Assistant District Attorney Lorretta Owen, Lorenza Sam was hired by Leesa Nascimento to work in her flower shop Artful Occasions located in the Sugar Creek Shopping Center. Sam was fired after only three months for stealing from her. Approximately six weeks later, the defendant went to Nascimentos Missouri City home and shot her to death while robbing her. Sam dumped Nascimentos body in the lake behind her business and drove her stolen vehicle to Gibsland, Louisiana where he abandoned it on a remote hunting lease. Fort Bend County Sheriffs Detective David McKinnon tracked Sam through a hotel in Lafayette, Louisiana where his girlfriend had dropped him off two days after the murder. Hotel staff informed McKinnon that Sam started work on an offshore barge off the coast of Mississippi. Determined law enforcement authorities travelled to the barge and arrested Sam on the spot. Prosecutors presented expert evidence at trial through a forensic scientist regarding DNA evidence found in the victims vehicle. An expert also testified regarding the cellular footprint of the defendants and other witnesses cell phones showing their location during the time surrounding the murder. The State called forty-five witnesses including family and employees of the victim, numerous officers from the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office, the Sugar Land Police Department, and the Bienville Parish Sheriffs Office in Louisiana. Lorenza Sam repaid Leesa Nascimentos kindness in hiring him by stealing from her and ultimately, the extreme cruelty of taking her life, said Owen. Imprisoned before for Aggravated Battery, Burglary of a Habitation and Robbery in the state of Louisiana, he will now spend the rest of his life in prison where he belongs. Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorneys Lorretta Owen, Sherry Robinson and Lisa Gregg prosecuted the case. Attorney Sid Crowley represented the defendant. |
| Booking location: | Fort Bend County, TX |
