SAMPSON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- 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.
According to the lawsuit, no one else has been charged in Sessoms' death.
A North Carolina judge has now approved a $10 million settlement for Jones. Court documents show the money will be placed into a trust and a structured settlement annuity that will provide financial support over the course of his life.