The man accused of fatally shooting Julius Randolph Sampson Jr. outside a restaurant at Hanes Mall in 2019 maintains he can t get a fair trial due to publicity and the racial undertones of the case, according to a motion filed by his attorney last week.Â
Robert Anthony Granato, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in Sampson s death on Aug. 6, 2019. He is being held in the Forsyth County Jail on a $500,000 bond for the murder charge. Race has been at the center of the case, with some believing that Granato, who is white, shot Sampson, a married father of three who worked as a barber at Hanes Mall, because Sampson was Black. During an altercation that started inside BJ s Restaurant and Brewhouse and spilled outside, Sampson used the N-word and Granato hurled the word back.Â