He was an active member in the community and a key figure in advising young teens on the correct path to take. Most of the kids took his advice seriously. There were a few who resented him trying to tell them how to run their own life and let him know it.

There was one kid named Lonny, who even threatened Sam when he tried to give him advice. He told Sam he had better watch his back. He said one day you will get yours. Sam jokingly said not if you get yours first. Everyone heard the arguing between the two. They knew of the feud and figured it was just more talk by the youngster.

One evening Sam was relaxing at home after a long day at the church. He heard his back door slam. Although he was a churchman, he kept a gun in the nightstand for self defense. He never intended on using it. He figured if anything happened, he could scare the criminals away just by having it. He grabbed the gun and went into the other room.

He saw Lonny standing there. He said, what are you doing here Lonny? At that moment Lonny lunged toward the deacon. They both fell to the floor. The Deacon stuck his hand in his pocket to pull out the gun to scare Lonny. Lonny saw the gun and grabbed his hand. They struggled and the gun went off and shot Lonny once in the chest.

He fell over. Sam rushed to call to report the emergency. Lonny was pronounced dead at the scene. Sam was taken in for questioning. The police discovered the long running feud between Sam and Lonny. They also learned about Sams joking comments to get Lonny first. Sam was charged with premeditated murder.

Sam was held for several weeks in the city jail. After many consultations with his attorney and a new investigation, new evidence was presented that cleared Sam of murder charges.

Sam is still recovering from the traumatic experience, but is more committed than ever to teaching youngsters that they do have a choice. In fact he doesnot own a firearm any more. He has decided that risk of having a gun in the house far outweighs the benefits.