CASTLE HAYNE — A woman who murdered her estranged husband in 2015 after a custody order was modified by a District Court judge will spend at least 16-and-a-half years in prison after sentencing Tuesday.
30-year-old Jennifer Crampton, a Sanford resident, pleaded guilty in New Hanover County Superior Court to second degree murder. Judge Imelda Pate sentenced Crampton to 200-252 months in the Department of Adult Correction.
According to a release from the office of the 5th District Attorney, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, Jennifer Crampton and husband Robert appeared in district court as part of an ongoing custody battle. Jennifer Crampton had previously received a domestic violence protective order against her husband. In court, a judge modified the couple’s custody arrangement.
Later that day, Jennifer Crampton met her husband at his mobile home at 2709 Castle Hayne Road and shot him. She used a revolver she had taken from her parent’s home in Lee County. Crampton then placed a call that would lead New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office deputies to respond to the shooting at 5:42 p.m.
Crampton told the 911 dispatcher at the time, “I couldn’t let him … I wasn’t going to let him hurt my son anymore. I couldn’t.”
The victim was treated for a gunshot wound to the head at New Hanover Regional Medical Center and remained in critical condition until he died the following day; authorities then upgraded the charges to first-degree murder.
The Crampton’s son was not present at the time of the murder and has remained in the custody of the victim’s family.
