Georgia Supreme Court upholds life in prison sentence for Sam Poss killer

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – One of the two teenagers convicted of murdering 18 year old Sam Poss, of Perry, in 2016, will still have have to spend life in prison.

On Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court released a ruling that upholds Dakota White’s 2018 sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

According to the ruling, White appealed his conviction of malice murder and other crimes for “errors both in the admission of his confession and in the trial court’s decision to
sentence him to life without parole.”

In October of 2016, White confessed that he and another teenager, Brandon Warren, killed Sam Poss. He also led detectives to Poss’ body.

According to White, he and Warren had a suicide pact and wanted to know what it would be like to kill someone. They chose Poss because he was “a nice guy”.

White and Warren were found guilty of Sam Poss’ murder in 2018. A Houston County Superior Court judge sentenced White to life in prison without the possibility of parole in September of 2018. Warren was also sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Georgia Supreme Court validated the Houston County Superior Court’s decision. “We conclude that White has not shown that the trial court committed any reversible error under existing precedent with respect to either decision, and we affirm,” said the Georgia Supreme Court.

Houston County District Attorney, George Hartwig, sent a statement about the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision on Monday. “The murder of Sam Poss was a crime that not only devastated Sam’s family and friends; it shocked the collective conscience of our community.,” said Hartwig. “Senseless violent crime, like the brutal murder of Sam Poss, will not go unpunished in Houston County. My office will continue to seek a full measure of justice for the people of Houston County.”