Suspect charged in shooting death of
Julius Sampson Jr.
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Following a verbal
altercation inside BJ’s
Restaurant & Brewhouse,
Julius “Juice” Randolph
Sampson Jr. was shot and
killed by a man believed
to be a supporter of white
supremacist views.
According to the po
lice report, around 3:30
p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6,
officers with the Winston-
Salem Police Department
responded to a report of a
dismrbance at BJ’s Res
taurant & Brewhouse, 192
Hanes Mall Circle. Before
officers could arrive, the
call was upgraded to a
report of gunshots being
fired and upon arrival, of
ficers found Sampson rm-
responsive and suffering
from an apparent gunshot
wound.
Emergency medical
personnel responded and
later pronounced Sampson
dead at the scene.
The investigation re
vealed after the alterca
tion inside the restaurant
between Robert Granato
and Sampson, both men
left the restaurant where
the argument continued
in the parking lot. A short
time later, Mr. Granato
produced a weapon and
discharged it, striking
Sampson.
Photos from Instagram
Julius “Juice” Randolph Sampson Jr. was murdered in the parking lot of BJ’s
Restuarant at Brewhouse on August 6.
The victim, known as
Juice throughout the com
munity, was a barber at Su
preme Legacy Barbershop
located in Hanes Mall. He
was recently married and
the father of three. When,
word of his death was
made public, the hashtag
#JusticeForJuice started
to spread like wildfife and
hundreds flooded Samp
son’s Facebook page to
share their condolences.
One person wrote, “I woke
up so sad this morning
thinking about what hap
pened to Julius “Juice”
Sampson. That story hit
home to a lot of people, es
pecially in Winston.”
In a statement pub
lished on Facebook, Samp
son’s wife said, “I want the
world to know the amazing
young man that was sense
lessly snatched away from
me and our family. I want
awareness and justice for
my husband. My husband
wasn’t an animal that de
served slaughtering.”
Robert Granato’s so
cial media footprint shows
a person who appears to
be obsessed with guns.
Granato’s Instagram ac
count shows several photos
and videos of the 22-year-
old holding and firing
guns. While the amount of
guns and ammunition in
the photos are disturbing,
Granato’s most alarming
photo may be of him wear
ing a shirt that reads ‘Mu-
rica’ while using his hands
to create what can be taken
Photos from Instragram
Robert Granato
or mistaken as a symbol of
white supremacy.
While the investiga
tion is still ongoing, so far
Granato has been charged
with first degree murder
and carrying a concealed
handgun after consuming
alcohol. Because he is be
ing charged with murder,
Granato does not have a
bond.
Authorities are asking
that anyone with additional
information regarding this
investigation contact the
Winston-Salem Police De
partment at 336-773-7700
or CrimeStoppers at 336-
727-2800. CrimeStoppers
may also be contacted via
“Crime Stoppers of Win
ston-Salem” on Facebook.
Still asking...where will they go?
HAWS seems to be moving forward with sale of Crystal Towers while tenants left in the dark
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
For only the second
time since the sale of the
building was made public
last year, on Wednesday,
Aug. 3, the Housing Au
thority of Winston-Salem
(HAWS) held a meeting
with the residents of Crys
tal Towers to discuss the
sale and what the future
will hold for residents.
During his open discus
sion with about half of the
201 tenants that call Crys
tal Towers home, Larry
Woods, HAWS executive
director, addressed several
issues including vouchers
residents will receive to
relocate, the process for
approving the sale of the
building, and several other
concerns from residents.
But one major question
that has yet to be answered
by Woods or anyone else
from HAWS is:
Where will the cur
rent tenants go?
Here’s a recap on the
yearlong saga centered
around the
sale.
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in 1970, Crystal Towers
is one of three income-
based high-rises owned
by HAWS that serve se
niors and individuals with
disabilities. According to
HAWS, while all three of
the buildings need work,
Crystal Towers needs more
than $7 million in repairs
and as a result, the HAWS’
Board of Commissioners
voted to approve the sale.
In an article pub
lished by The Chronicle
in March, Kevin Cheshire,
HAWS general counsel
and vice president of real
estate development, said
at least several offers were
made on the building and
after evaluating them all,
they did identify which
would be the best fit. Al
though HAWS had made
their decision, according
10 Cheshire, the contract
had not been signed be
cause they were waiting
on the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Devel
opment (HUD) to approve
the contract.
“Our board has not
signed the contract be
cause we’re waiting on
some guidance from HUD
to make sure we can sign
without additional approv
al from them. We’ve been
told by the HUD officials
that they think it’s prob
ably okay, but they need
to be certain, so we’re
waiting to hear back from
them,” Cheshire said.
While HAWS waits
for the deal to be approved
by HUD, the residents of
Crystal Towers have been
seemingly left in the dark.
Even while speaking with
residents last week, Woods
never came clean about
when the building will of
ficially be sold. Woods told
residents that the process
could take 6 to 12 months
and they would hold meet
ings every three months to
update.
As an income-based
property, tenants are re
quired.to pay 30% of their
gross adjusted income and
HAWS provides a subsidy
for the rest of the total cost.
Once HUD approves the
sale, residents can either
relocate to another HAWS
property or use a housing
voucher to get an apart
ment on the private mar
ket.
But here’s where prob
lems will arise. Although
Woods has said several
times that the building
won’t be sold until every
tenant has a place to go,
unless HAWS has property
that no one knows about,
that task of finding hous
ing for 201 senior citizens
seems impossible.
Currently, HAWS
owns 21 subsidized hous
ing properties across the
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Last week the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem (HAWS) held a meeting with the
tenants of Crystal Towers to discuss the sale of the building.
city and most of those don’t
have vacancies. And with a
waiting list with hundreds
of names and more being
added every day, it’s clear
that HAWS doesn’t have
a solid plan to relocate the
tenants of Crystal Tow
ers. A search for available
subsidized one-bedroom
apartments on the HAWS
website shows only a doz
en vacancies.
Which is why we’re
asking: where will they
go?
According to HAWS
representatives, the mon
ey received for the sale
of Crystal Towers will be
used to build smaller hous
ing developments across
the community. Although
it seems like a long-term
solution to the problem,
with no vacant land or
funds to even begin the
process, building new de
velopments won’t help the
current residents of Crystal
Towers.
Following the meeting
last week, several residents
said they are already trying
to find somewhere to stay.
One man who has lived in
the 11-story building for
more than five years said
he has started making ar
rangements, but he feels
sorry for the older resi
dents who don’t have any
idea where they will be
this time next year.
“I think the Housing
Authority should be doing
a lot more to help us find
housing. I’ve been search
ing for a few months now,
but there are older people
in this building who need
help. I feel like they’re try
ing to just brush this situa
tion under a rug and move
on.”
www.wschronicle.com
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