Exonerated at Trial 3 Months Ago, Ed Sampson Faces New Felony and Up to 10 Years in Prison for Jailhouse Battery

Edward Sampson doesn’t seem to be able to stay out of trouble. He was arraigned again today on a new charge. 

After facing the possibility of 30 years in prison if convicted on what would have been his 16th felony, a Flagler County jury three months ago exonerated the 31-year-old Bunnell resident of an aggravated battery charge after a one-day trial. He wept. He walked out of jail and back to his Church Street home in Bunnell that afternoon. 

Seven weeks later, Sampson was arrested again on a charge of aggravated assault. He was accused of lifting a brick over the head of another man and threatening to bash him with it during an argument over his small brown pit bull puppy. He was booked at the Flagler County jail on $30,000 bond. 

He posted bail on Jan. 27, and on Feb. 5, Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark, who had prosecuted the case that went to trial, dropped the charge. 

But on Jan. 18, Sampson had been charged with a new felony after a confrontation with another inmate, and that one was caught on surveillance camera. 

His target was Jacob Perry, a 27-year-old man arrested three years ago on a series of aggravated battery counts for firing a gun six or seven times at his grandfather’s house in the F-Section. (See: “Shooting On Palm Coast’s Farnum Lane Results in Arrest of 24-Year-Old Grandson of Resident.”) Perry was found not guilty by reason of insanity, was rearrested last October for failing to appear in court, and on Jan. 7 was ordered committed to a state hospital. 

Perry was still at the jail on Jan. 18, awaiting a bed at the state hospital. After having a meal around 10 a.m. that day, he discarded some food and, after Sampson said something to him, walked up to his cell. Sampson followed him, then punched him until Perry was on the ground. Sampson continued hitting him, according to a description of the video footage included in his arrest report. 

He was charged with felony battery, a third-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years. This time, the charge wasn’t dropped. The State Attorney’s Office filed its information–the intent to prosecute–on Jan. 26. If found guilty, Sampson could be sentenced as a habitual offender. That would double the penalty to up to 10 years in prison.

Sampson is free on $5,000 bond. He was not in court today, having already filed a written not-guilty plea. He’s scheduled for a pretrial on March 18 before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols. 

Sampson gained some notoriety through his unintended involvement in the events that led up to the murder of 16-year-old Noah Smith in 2022, and the eventual conviction of four young men for the killing. Before the killing, two of the four had taunted Sampson online. He was known by his street name, “Ed Boy.” They had dared him to come out and face them, and threatened him, showing a gun. 

When the four men drove to Bunnell to confront him, it was Sampson’s brother who fired at the four men’s car, prompting return fire. A bullet from that return fire killed Smith, who was a bystander. Sampson was not involved, though his name recurred at many points during the court proceedings involving the four men, all of whom are currently serving very long prison sentences.