A White Swan woman was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison Monday for the murder of Destiny Lloyd.
Tahsheena Stacie Sam pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Indian Country in June 2024. Prosecutors allege that Sam struck Lloyd in the head several times with a wrench after robbing her on Christmas in 2017.
Destiny Lloyd
Sam and three other individuals were driving around the Yakama Nation Indian Reservation the night of Dec. 25, 2017, when they picked up Lloyd, a 23-year-old child care worker at Legends Casino Hotel in Toppenish, according to prosecuting attorney Bree Black Horse. The group learned that Lloyd had some money and decided to rob her, leaving her next to a snowy canal ditch on the reservation.
After the assault, the group worried Lloyd might report the robbery. Sam returned to the ditch armed with a wrench to kill her聽and used a flashlight to follow Lloyd鈥檚 tracks in the snow, court documents state.
Lloyd鈥檚 body was found on Dec. 29, 2017, by a passing motorist off Marion Drain Road near the intersection with Harrah Road after a relative reported her missing to the Yakama Nation Police Department the previous day. An autopsy determined Lloyd died from cerebral trauma due to a skull fracture, and her death was deemed a homicide.
Family members remember
It took more than five years before arrests were made in the case, and Lloyd鈥檚 family and friends kept her story in the public鈥檚 eye during that time.
On Monday, family members described Lloyd as a kind person with a contagious laugh. Her brother Elvis Sampson said she had 鈥渘othing but love鈥 for her friends, family and coworkers. Lloyd cared for many of her nieces and nephews, often spending time with them on school breaks and holidays.
鈥淗er love for children was unlimited,鈥 her brother Bruce Sampson Jr. said at the sentencing at U.S. District Court in Yakima. 鈥淪he brought smiles to all of our kids.鈥
Al Renville Kopas, right, stands with Destiny Lloyd鈥檚 mother Regina McConville, and brothers Desmond Lloyd, left, and Elvis Sampson, center, near where she was found murdered in 2017 Friday, July 25, 2025, in White Swan, Wash.
Sampson said Lloyd鈥檚 murder has left an 鈥渆mpty void鈥 in the family鈥檚 hearts. Lloyd鈥檚 sister, Irene American Horse, described the loss as one that has torn her family apart.
鈥淚t ruptured my whole world, my kids鈥 world,鈥 American Horse said.
Sam was sentenced in federal court because she and Lloyd are Native Americans and the killing happened on the Yakama Reservation. Waylon Jake Napyer, who pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony in connection with the murder, was sentenced聽last year. The case is one of dozens involving missing and murdered Indigenous people that have happened on and near the Yakama Reservation.
Sentence
Sam鈥檚 recommended sentencing range was 235 to 293 months,聽according to a presentencing report. However, the prosecution asked the court for a longer sentence based on the nature and circumstances of the offense, the seriousness of the offense, and to聽provide just punishment for a 鈥渂rutal murder.鈥
Both the prosecution and defense agreed on a sentence recommendation of 300 months聽鈥 or 25 years聽鈥 in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
At the sentencing, Sam accepted full responsibility for the murder.
鈥淚 will never be able to understand the hurt and amount of damage my actions have caused your family,鈥 she said.
Sam鈥檚 life was 鈥渕arked by persistent and severe physical and sexual abuse, chronic neglect, and a long history of untreated mental illness and substance dependence鈥 that contributed to diminished impulse control and decision-making capacity, according to a sentencing memo.
Sam鈥檚 attorney, Mitchell Crook, said he believes she is capable of change, and that a 300-month sentence will allow for meaningful participation in trauma-informed therapy and rehabilitation while in custody. Sam has begun taking steps to address her trauma, including two anger management courses, Crook said.
鈥淭his is not the end of Ms. Sam鈥檚 story,鈥 Crook said. 鈥淏ut it is the beginning of a journey that鈥檚 going to take an immense amount of work.鈥
Judge Mary Dimke said the events of the case were 鈥渁s serious and awful and brutal as the court ever sees,鈥 and described the nature of the murder as 鈥渢errifying.鈥 She encouraged Sam not to wait until returning to the community to address her trauma.
She also thanked Lloyd鈥檚 family for sharing their memories of Lloyd, wishing them closure.
鈥淪he would want you to be happy, lean on one another and support one another,鈥 Dimke said.
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