Tennessee Woman Sentenced to 16 Years for Violent Home Invasion in Georgia
A 37-year-old woman from Dayton, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 30 years, with the first 16 years to be served in prison, after pleading guilty to a violent home invasion in Catoosa County, Georgia. Samantha Hyatte entered her plea on February 25, 2025, to two counts of Home Invasion in the First Degree, two counts of Aggravated Assault, and Attempted Armed Robbery.
The incident occurred on February 24, 2024, shortly before 11:00 AM, when Hyatte entered the home of a 66-year-old woman and a 60-year-old woman as they prepared lunch. Brandishing a large pair of hedge clippers and screaming threats, Hyatte demanded the women’s car keys.
One of the victims threw her keys onto the front porch behind Hyatte. As Hyatte turned to retrieve them, the woman shoved her out the door and locked it, while the other victim called law enforcement. Hyatte was apprehended nearby, carrying a claw hammer but no longer in possession of the hedge clippers. Investigators determined that Hyatte did not know the victims and had never been to their residence before the crime.
Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Melissa Hise delivered the sentence on February 25, 2025, following a sentencing hearing.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Deanna Reisman represented the State of Georgia, with Victim Advocate Shelby Armstrong assisting the victims. The Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, under Sheriff Gary Sisk, conducted the investigation.
District Attorney Clayton M. Fuller issued a strong statement after the sentencing, emphasizing the circuit’s intolerance for out-of-state violence. “We don’t tolerate that kind of unprovoked violence in our community,” Fuller said. “You cross that state line from Tennessee thinking you can bring violence into Georgia, you’re gonna find out real quick. I’m grateful to Judge Hise for laying down a hard sentence that tells folks loud and clear: you come here looking for trouble, you’ll find justice waiting.”
