$10M Settlement Awarded to Man Exonerated in McKenzie Sessoms Murder Case After DNA Clears Him

A Sampson County man who spent years in jail for a crime he did not commit has reached a major legal settlement. Trey Jones spent five years behind bars after being charged in the 2013 death of McKenzie Sessoms. The charges against him were voluntarily dismissed in 2021 after DNA evidence cleared him in the case.

In 2023, Jones filed a lawsuit claiming he was coerced into confessing to the crime. The suit also alleged that Sampson County Sheriff James Thornton, along with two deputies and a State Bureau of Investigation agent, violated his civil rights.

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