Former Austin police officer VonTrey Clark pled guilty this week to the killing in 2015 of his pregnant girlfriend, former Kyle Police Department victims services coordinator Samantha Dean.
Dean was seven to eight months pregnant at the time of the murder.
Clark’s plea agreement was a reversal of his initial non-guilty plea made Nov. 19, 2015. He was 32 years old at the time.
According to warrants in 2015, Clark allegedly offered to pay two hit men $5,000 to murder Dean and her unborn child, Madeline.
Clark will be sentenced to life without parole, according to the plea. Prosecutors will drop a second murder charge on the murder of his unborn child.
The trial took place in the Bastrop County district court Monday.
Dean was found dead Feb. 4, 2015 in a vacant shopping center in Bastrop.
Clark was fired as an Austin police officer when he fled to Indonesia July 17, 2015.
In coordination with the U.S. government, Indonesian officials had extradited Clark back to the U.S., where he was later arrested.
Dean had served at the Kyle Police Department Crime Victim Services Coordinator.
“On this day, as the person responsible for her death received a life sentence without the possibility of parole, our only thoughts are with Samantha’s family, her co-workers, her friends and everyone who knew and dearly loved her. She was a light in the darkness for so many. Her personality, her smile and her friendship will not be forgotten,” Kyle Chief of Police Jeff Barnett said Monday.
“Samantha Dean came to Kyle PD to help victims of crimes. She provided a safe haven for those in stressful, painful and sometimes dire situations. Her compassion and caring for each and every victim was apparent in everything she did,” he said.
“Samantha’s tragic murder, along with that of her unborn baby girl, left a huge void in our department. In her honor, we helped posthumously fulfill Samantha’s dream of becoming a police officer,” Barnett said after the completion of the trial.
