Woman allegedly stole a man’s phone at a library. When both ended up behind a Dollar Tree, he pulled out a knife

A packed Salt Lake County courtroom listened to family, friends and a survivor last week. The hearing closed a case that began nearly eight years ago behind a since-closed Dollar Tree in Salt Lake City, Utah. It started with a library visit and a phone that went missing.

According to Law&Order, Kidus Yohannes, 39, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office confirmed the sentence in a press release. A jury found him guilty of aggravated murder in August. The case centers on the 2018 death of 20-year-old Candace Samples, and prosecutors say it began with a stolen phone.

Jurors also convicted him of attempted manslaughter for stabbing a second man. The judge added a sentence of up to five years on that count, prosecutors said. Police say the incident happened on Nov. 7, 2018, behind a Dollar Tree in Salt Lake City. The store has since closed. According to law enforcement, Samples stole Yohannes’ phone while he was at the Marmalade Branch Library across the street.

The dispute over a missing phone

Samples, one of her friends and Yohannes later ended up in the same “dumpster enclosure” behind the store, police said. Prosecutors say Yohannes confronted her about the phone there. They say he pulled out a knife “and said he would use it if he did not get his phone back.”

A witness saw the confrontation and ran to a nearby 7-Eleven for help. A friend came back, jumped into the dumpster and tried to step in. Yohannes stabbed that man right away, authorities said. He survived.

Another person in the enclosure saw the stabbing and climbed over the wall. According to prosecutors, that person “grabbed a large board, reentered the enclosure, and saw the defendant stabbing Ms. Sample[s].” The first witness then opened the gates, and Yohannes ran off.

Samples and the injured man went to a hospital after a 911 call. Law enforcement says she had 20 stab wounds to her head, arms and torso. She died soon after she arrived.

Police found Yohannes and took him into custody. The press release says surveillance video from the 7-Eleven showed him with Samples “entering and leaving the store together before the stabbing.” Even so, the defendant “denied that he had any involvement in the stabbings or that he had any knowledge of or interaction with either victim,” the release says.

Investigators took his shoes and found blood on them. Prosecutors say it matched Samples’. The trial lasted three days, and jurors reached a verdict on the third.

Cases like this often hinge on small moments, and the release does not explain why this one escalated so fast. For now, prosecutors have described only a dispute over a phone. No other motive has been made public.

At sentencing, the survivor spoke to the court about turning his life around. The couple who raised Samples talked about having her in their home as a child. They also spoke about her struggles and the loss they now carry. The judge allowed a video of her life to be played in court.

District Attorney Sim Gill spoke about the outcome. “We hope that Ms. Samples’ family feels they have received some measure of justice,” he said. He added, “We know it is not perfect justice, if it were perfect justice, Ms. Samples would still be in our community today.”