Working with Florida law enforcement, Marietta Police this week filed charges in last Friday’s carjacking case at the Cobb Parkway Target location after a suspect was captured during part of a prostitution sting near Tampa.

Marietta detectives have charged Sly Deon Sampson, 34, of Marietta with the assault and robbery that occurred on June 10 at the Target shopping center at 2201 Cobb Parkway South. Sampson is currently in custody in Hillsborough County, Fla., on a fugitive from justice warrant awaiting extradition to Marietta. He faces felony charges of aggravated assault, robbery, false imprisonment and theft by taking motor vehicle, as well as a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to child in the third degree.

According to police, the suspect assaulted and robbed a woman as she was trying to remove her small child from the back seat of her 2004 Chevy Tahoe in the Target parking lot.  The victim was able to escape the vehicle with her small child unharmed as the man drove away.

Within an hour of the carjacking, Marietta detectives discovered the victim’s credit cards were being used to post adult entertainment escort services in the Atlanta area on a Web site called the BackPage.com.  Detectives, through previous investigations, had established Sampson as an associate of a featured female on the page, Ahlai Diana Woodward, 19 of Marietta.

 On June 15, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on the stolen 2004 Chevy Tahoe in which the driver, Everton McCoy, 23 of Marietta, fled on foot initially but was apprehended and arrested shortly thereafter.  Woodward was also in the vehicle at the time of the stop.  She was detained and later released.

Marietta police also discovered Woodward had resumed posts on BackPage.com, with ads for the Tampa area.  Believing that Sampson would be with Woodward, detectives worked with the Hillsborough investigators. 

Hillsborough County Sheriff investigators conducted a prostitution sting using the information Woodward had posting on the Internet and subsequently arrested Woodward.  During this operation, Sampson was located and arrested and is now being held awaiting extradition to Marietta.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact Marietta Police Detective Freer at 770-794-5477.