[chris]

Samantha Watts pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison on July 14, 2025, in Conway, in the death of Corey "Adam" Soles, whose body was found weighted with cement blocks in a Horry County swamp.

Soles, 29, was from Chadbourn, North Carolina, and spent time at the Green Sea property in Horry County, South Carolina, where Samantha Watts lived with her children. Her children involved in the case were Payton Watts, a juvenile at the time, Jonathan Watts and Amber Watts. Soles had helped install the property's surveillance cameras. Prosecutors said Samantha Watts ran a drug distribution operation there and exercised control over her family. They said she believed Soles had stolen drugs from her and assaulted her wife, prompting retaliation.

Between January 8 and January 9, 2023, Payton Watts struck Soles and broke his leg. Immobilized and in a wheelchair, Soles was held in a shed for about 11 hours. Samantha Watts and Payton Watts then went to the shed, where Payton was ordered to strike Soles repeatedly in the head. The medical examiner found at least seven blows to the back of his head from a blunt object. Prosecutors said at least seven people participated in the assault, which was carried out with an iron pole. Arrest warrants said video showed Soles with a broken leg and broken nose.

Soles was reported missing on January 10, 2023. His body was found January 16 in the Galivants Ferry area of Horry County, submerged in a swamp, wrapped and weighted with cement blocks tied to it.

The Horry County Police Department investigated. Detectives found blood on the porch of the Watts home and in Samantha Watts' car, while witness statements described a fight there. The DVR for the home camera system was missing and its hard drive had been wiped, but Sgt. Jonathan Kelly said digital forensics recovered footage showing the assault. Cellphone data tracked the movements of those involved, and Soles' cellphone was recovered near the home. During Samantha Watts' interview, detectives said their search warrant stemmed from the blood on her porch and asked what she knew about Soles' disappearance. She said she did not know he was gone. They later confronted her with the recovered video and identified her sons and others in the footage. Samantha and Payton Watts repeatedly denied knowing what happened to Soles, while Jonathan Watts gave statements investigators considered consistent and truthful.

Samantha Watts, 41 at the time, was initially arrested on drug offenses and later charged with murder. Bond was denied in September 2023. Payton Watts was charged with murder and assault by mob on April 4, 2024, at age 17, and was prosecuted as an adult. Jonathan Watts was charged with assault and battery by mob, second degree, and Amber Watts was charged with accessory after the fact to murder. James Ryan Porter was charged with assault by mob, while Joshua Thomas Brown was charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

The four pleaded guilty before jury selection on July 14, 2025. Samantha Watts, 42, received 45 years for murder. Payton Watts, then 18, received 35 years after pleading guilty to murder. Jonathan Watts, 21, pleaded guilty to assault and battery by mob and was sentenced to time served, 908 days. Amber Watts, 23, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact under the Youthful Offender Act and received six years suspended to five years of probation. Porter and Brown were reported to be facing lesser charges and awaiting resolution. On January 21, 2026, Payton Watts, then 19 and held at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center, filed a petition for post-conviction relief. He alleges his attorney failed to appeal within the 10-day window, failed to investigate witnesses and evidence, never discussed potential defenses, and calls his plea involuntary. No ruling has been reported.

The roughly 133-minute video is a police interview-room recording of Samantha Watts' interview. It begins with a short narrated introduction naming the people involved before presenting the interview itself.

[chris]

Part 2 of 3 of the recording described above.

[chris]

Part 3 of 3 of the recording described above.