Mom and Teen Son Plead Guilty to Beating Wheelchair-Bound Man to Death

A South Carolina man was left in a wheelchair after his leg was broken in an earlier assault by a teenager — then, days later, he was beaten to death with the help of that boy’s mother, according to prosecutors.

Per the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, 42-year-old Samantha Watts and her son, Payton Watts, now 18, pleaded guilty last week to the 2023 murder of 29-year-old Corey Adam Soles. Prosecutors claimed the brutal beating lasted two days and involved multiple members of the Watts family.

Soles, who had been staying at the family’s Aynor, South Carolina home, was “beaten and suffered blunt force trauma to his head while he lay in a wheelchair,” on January 8 and 9, 2023, the solicitor’s office wrote in a press release. He later died of his injuries.

The office said Soles was in a wheelchair at the time of the assault because he had a broken leg from an earlier attack by 16-year-old Payton Watts.

Payton, now 18, was charged as an adult and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Samantha Watts, described by prosecutors as the ringleader of the attack, received a 45-year sentence.

Authorities said Samantha, who had a drug distribution business, used the teen as her “muscle” and directed him to use violence against Soles.

In the statement released by the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, officials called the killing “brutal” and emphasized Soles’ vulnerability due to his disability.

Two other adult children of Samantha Watts were also charged. Her 23-year-old daughter, Amber Watts, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and received five years’ probation. Her 21-year-old son, Jonathan Watts, was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act and received time served.

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The full motive behind the attack has not been publicly confirmed. However, prosecutors said Samantha Watts exercised control over her family and orchestrated the assault. Soles had been living in the home at the time, reportedly as an acquaintance of one of the adult children.

Authorities said Soles was attacked in one part of the home and later moved, where the beating continued. No one in the household sought medical attention for him. He died from his injuries shortly after the assault, per the solicitor’s office release.

The 29-year-old was reported missing on Jan. 10, 2023 and his body was found six days later in the Galivants Ferry area of Horry County, South Carolina, per reporting by WPDE and WCIV.