A Fort Worth woman says she had no idea her boyfriend was an accused killer who was hiding from police when they traveled to California and dropped out of sight.
Jasmine Adams, 21, a Crowley High School graduate, said she met Brandon Sampson, of Dallas, on a dating website and fell in love.
"I mean, he seemed like a nice guy,” Adams said. “He was sweet. He was a gentleman."
Adams and Sampson, 31, traveled to California.
"Then his attitude changed,” she said.
Adams said Sampson always carried a gun and grew increasingly paranoid.
"He was like, 'They're tracking us.' So I'm like, 'OK,'" she said.
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Adams recounted the ordeal in her south Fort Worth home Thursday.
Sampson threw her cell phone away soon after they arrived in California, she said, but she never suspected it was because he was on the run from a murder charge.
In early January, soon after the couple drove to California, Dallas police found the body of Jacqueline Hughes in Sampson’s Oak Cliff garage and charged him with her murder.
Adams said she knew her family back in Fort Worth was looking for her, but never saw news coverage of her mother begging for help.
"I knew they was going to find me,” she said. “I was just waiting, waiting every day, just doing whatever he really wanted, keeping him level."
At the same time, Adams was confused about whether she was in fear, or in love, she said.
"It was a little bit of both,” she said. “I was kind of scared, in a way, but then he'd always reassure me that I won't hurt you or anything, you know, I care about you, I love you."
While on the run, the two went to church every Sunday and lived with a man Sampson had described as his uncle. Adams said she later learned the man was not a relative.
Then, two weeks ago, police finally tracked Sampson down, arrested him, and rescued her. He is still in jail in San Bernardino County awaiting extradition to Dallas.
"I was very shocked,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I didn't know.’ I was like, with a murder suspect. I didn't know that."
Adams flew home -- her first time on a plane -- to be reunited with her family.
"I'm just happy I made it,” she said. “It's a blessing I'm here. I'm just grateful.”
