Samuel Colt Usery will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a Gaston County jury convicted him in the 2023 killing of his roommate, 21-year-old Michael Antoine Drayton Jr. The life-without-parole sentence, handed down this week in Gaston County court, closes a long-running investigation that has weighed heavily on the small Lowell neighborhood where the two men lived.
According to WSOC-TV, jurors found Usery guilty of first-degree murder on Monday, and the judge ordered life in prison without the possibility of parole. WSOC-TV reports that officers discovered Drayton had been shot six times, and investigators later determined his throat had been cut three times after he was already dead. In a statement, District Attorney Travis Page, who tried the case alongside Assistant District Attorney Debbie Gulledge, said, "Michael Drayton did not deserve to die at the hands of his supposed friend." Prosecutors told jurors that drug use, particularly fentanyl, played a role in the deadly encounter.
How the Case Unfolded
The killing happened on March 12, 2023, when officers responded to a home in Lowell. An archived notice from the Gaston County government lists 307 South Church Street as the scene. Local coverage at the time reported that first responders found Drayton with an apparent gunshot wound and detained several people in the house for questioning. WBTV reported that Usery was identified as a suspect and initially charged with second-degree murder. That earlier reporting also noted that investigators from the Lowell Police Department and the Gaston County Police Department worked the case and that authorities said there was no ongoing threat to the public.
Legal Notes
The life-without-parole sentence means Usery is not expected to be released and will remain in prison for the rest of his life. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Travis Page and Assistant District Attorney Debbie Gulledge, according to WSOC-TV, and prosecutors emphasized to jurors that drugs, including fentanyl, were a factor in the confrontation that ended in Drayton's death. Additional filings and docket updates are expected to appear in Gaston County public records as the case continues to move through the court system on the administrative side.
