Smith County grand jury indicts duo accused in beating, burning death of pregnant woman

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A Kilgore man and Overton woman in prison in connection with a case of a woman reported missing over five years ago have been indicted in her death.

Sheryia Grant, of Kilgore, was first reported missing in August of 2016. Allen Lamont Sutton Jr., 33, and Laneshia Lashae Young, 29, have been suspects in the deaths and were convicted on charges related to the deaths in 2019. A new indictment, filed on Dec. 2, charges the pair with capital murder.

Grant was eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. The indictment states Sutton and Young struck Grant with a blunt object and set her on fire on Aug. 20, 2016.

According to Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman, the state attorney general’s office is prosecuting the new case.

According to a previous KLTV report, a car belonging to Sutton and Young was repossessed and was missing the trunk liner, and DNA of blood found in that trunk matched that of Sheryia Grant.

According to records filed in appeals court, Sutton had a relationship with Young. When Young was in jail on an unrelated manner, Sutton lived with an impregnated Young’s cousin, Grant. After Young’s release from jail, her relationship with Sutton resumed and Grant went missing.

During Young’s incarceration, Sutton and Grant lived together with another couple. The roommate testified that Grant discovered she was pregnant with Sutton’s child. The roommate said Grant was very excited about the pregnancy and in love with Sutton. The roommate testified how Grant was speaking with a friend on the phone and said she loved Sutton. Sutton seized the phone, choked Grant and told her he would kill her. Three months before Grant’s disappearance, Young had assaulted Grant in Sutton’s presences. The roommate also testified that one month before Grant’s disappearance, Sutton said Grant “was causing problems and needed to go.”

Sutton and Young owned a Crown Victoria, which was later repossessed. The repossessed car was missing its trunk liner, spare tire and jack. Traces of Grant’s blood were found on the underside of the trunk’s lid, according to the appeals documents.

Sutton is serving a 10-year prison sentence on a charge of tampering with evidence. Young is serving an eight-year sentence on the same charge. Both were convicted by a Rusk County jury.

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