A Morganton woman who opened fire on an occupied home is headed to prison for nearly a decade, after pleading guilty to the shooting and to having a gun she was not legally allowed to possess.
Prosecutors said Samantha Danielle Norton, 33, admitted to firing shots into a residence and to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Her combined prison term will keep her behind bars for more than nine years at a minimum, stemming from a May 2025 incident that triggered a county investigation and an arrest the very next day.
Investigation And Arrest
According to the Burke County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to 2685 Mill Race Road in Morganton on May 13, 2025, after reports of gunfire. Investigators later identified Norton as the suspected shooter.
The agency reports that warrants were issued and Norton was located the next day at an Exxon on Bethel Road. She was taken into custody without incident. Deputies say they recovered a firearm and what they described as large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine from her vehicle.
According to the sheriff's office, Norton was charged with discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling along with multiple drug and possession-related counts tied to what was found during the traffic stop.
Guilty Plea And Sentence
As reported by WACB 860AM, Norton pleaded guilty last Thursday and received back-to-back sentences: 97 to 129 months for discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling and 19 to 32 months for possession of a firearm by a felon. That adds up to a minimum of about nine years and eight months in state prison.
WACB reported that Norton remained in custody at the Burke County Jail at the time of its coverage. The outlet also noted that county prosecutors handled the case.
How North Carolina Treats The Crime
Under North Carolina law, firing a gun into occupied property is a felony that can bring multi-year prison terms. State statutes that deal with weapons and occupied property give judges room to classify the level of the felony and set a sentence based on the specific facts and any injuries that result.
That judicial discretion helps explain the sentencing range imposed in Norton's case. For more detail on how the law is written, see the North Carolina General Assembly.
Records And Public Updates
The Burke County Sheriff's Office shared both an arrest update and later a sentencing notice on its social media channels, including Facebook, summarizing the charges and court actions.
In a post from the Burke County Sheriff's Office, investigators asked anyone with information related to the May 2025 shooting to contact the department as the case moved through the courts.
