TYLER, Texas — Prosecutors announced Friday they will seek the death penalty for the second of three people accused of burning and killing a Kilgore woman, who has been missing since 2016, and her unborn child.
Allen Lamont Sutton Jr., Laneshia Lashae Young and Edward Brager are all charged with capital murder in connection with the disappearance and death of Sheryia Grant, 20.
She was eight months pregnant in 2016 when she went missing. Indictments allege the trio struck her with a blunt object and set her on fire using an accelerant. Her body has never been found.
During his arraignment hearing, the state announced they intend to seek the death penalty for Sutton, who was the father of Grant's unborn child. Prosecutors also read the indictment against Sutton and he entered a not guilty plea.
Because the offense happened in 2016, the prosecution said most of the DNA evidence is complete.
The state previously announced on Feb. 29 that they would also seek a death sentence for Young, who was Grant's cousin.
Sutton, who will be tried first, has his trial set for March 17, 2025. Young's trial is set for Sept. 2, 2025. Brager's trial is currently scheduled for Nov. 3, 2025, according to judicial records.
If found guilty of capital murder, a person faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors have not announced if they will seek the death penalty for Brager at this time.
Sutton and Young have previously been arrested and sentenced to prison after being found guilty of tampering with evidence.
In Rusk County, Sutton was sentenced to 10 years in prison on April 17, 2019, for tampering with physical evidence related to the killing of Grant in connection with the concealment of a trunk liner missing from a car he shared with Young.
An appellate court’s ruling revealed Sutton was in a relationship with Young. While Young was serving jail time, Sutton lived with and impregnated Grant, who is Young's cousin.
Sutton and Grant's roommate said Grant told her that she loved Sutton, who “choked Grant and told her he would kill her.” Young also assaulted Grant in Sutton’s presence three months before she disappeared, the roommate said.
Sutton and Young jointly owned a car that was repossessed after Grant disappeared, the ruling said. The creditor noticed the car was missing a trunk liner, spare tire and jack, with traces of Grant’s blood found on the underside of the trunk’s lid.
The judge said in the ruling the wiring looked like a person was “trying to escape the trunk.”
Sutton was charged with solicitation of capital murder in Gregg County in 2019; however, the judge dismissed the charge in June 2023. Young was sentenced in July 2021 to eight years in prison on a charge of tampering with physical evidence in connection with the case.
Sutton and Young were indicted for capital murder out of Smith County in December 2021, while Brager was indicted for the same charge in June 2022.