New court filings from Samantha Watts and her son, Payton Watts, have renewed attention on one of the most disturbing homicide cases to emerge from the Green Sea area in recent years.
HORRY COUNTY, SC –– More than three years after the death of Corey Adam Soles, 29, new court filings have placed the case straight back in the public eyes of the court system and has revived public interest in a homicide that involved multiple members of the same family.
Cory Adam Soles, a Chadbourn, North Carolina natiive, was reported missing in January 2023 and his deceased body later found across the county lines, in Horry County. Investigators subsequently uncovered evidence that led to charges against several members of one entire family, the Watts family of Green Sea, South Carolina.
The family members convicted in connection with the case included the mother Samantha Watts, her two sons Payton and Jonathan Watts, and Samatha’s daughter Amber Watts.
In July 2025, Samantha Watts pleaded guilty to murder and received a 45 year prison sentence. Her son, Payton Watts, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The daughter, Amber Watts pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder, while Jonathan Watts pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and battery.
According to court testimony and investigative findings, “Adam” (Soles) suffered fatal blunt-force injuries during an extended mob type assault at the family’s Green Sea property. The medical examiner determined he suffered multiple blows to the head, and prosecutors stated he was later transported from the property before his body was discovered submerged in a swamp in the Galivants Ferry area.
The latest legal challenge comes from the Watts family matriarch and mother of the other defendants.
On October 7, 2026, Samantha filed a post-conviction relief petition seeking a reduced sentence or a new trial. In her filing, she alleged ineffective assistance of counsel and claimed she felt pressured into accepting a plea agreement. Seeking to overturn her 45 year sentence, Samantha Watts claims she was coerced into a plea to save her son after forensics recovered wiped security footage. Her retrial motion blames inadequate counsel and downplays her role from a mastermind with “complete control over everything” to a mere body-disposer.
Her filing followed the dismissal of her direct appeal by the South Carolina Court of Appeals in August 2026.
Earlier in the year, on January 21, 2026, Payton Watts also filed for post-conviction relief. His petition claims his attorney failed to adequately investigate witnesses and evidence and did not properly discuss potential defenses before he entered his guilty plea.
No publicly reported ruling has yet been issued on either post-conviction relief petition.
Before his death, Cody Adam Soles worked right alongside his dad in the family-owned towing business in Chadbourn. He was survived by his wife and three young children.
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