Devarus Hampton: Massachusetts man charged in homicide cold case was inspired by HBO series ‘The Wire'
CAPE COD PENINSULA, MASSACHUSETTS: Devarus Hampton, 40, was arrested for a 2011 notorious cold murder that authorities claim is linked to the HBO crime drama, 'The Wire.' The series-inspired murder suspect is accused of fatally shooting 31-year-old Todd Lampley, Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J Galibois announced.
Devarus Hampton was taken into custody and charged with one count each of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and murder, on Friday, February 24. However, during Hampoton's recent arraignment in court, he entered a plea of 'not guilty' on Monday, February 27.
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Who is Devarus Hampton?
Authorities responded to an emergency call about a possible shooting at a residence located in the 10 block of Fresh Holes Road, in Hyannis, which is located on Massachusetts’ Cape Cod Peninsula, on February 27, 2011, according to a press release from the Barnstable Police Department. Upon arrival, police reportedly saw Lampley in a bedroom inside the residence. He was severely injured and had what appeared to be gunshot wounds. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. After an investigation, police successfully discovered a handgun tossed in a nearby pond, possibly a murder weapon, according to Law and Crime.
Things grew awry when investigators found a phone which was “attached to” the name Marlo Stanfield. Marlo Stanfield is the name of a fictional character from the series 'The Wire' and is the kingpin of the most notorious drug ring in Baltimore. In another similarity, authorities discovered a sweet potato from the scene of the fatal shooting. On the HBO show, a police investigator solves a murder and discovers the shooter uses a potato as a makeshift silencer when shooting his victim. However, the mystery was resolved after police sent the potato recovered from the Lampley murder scene for DNA analysis.
'Another nod to The Wire'
When the DNA results came, the root vegetable tested positive for Hampton’s DNA, according to WVCB. In the likely event, Hampton was wearing a court-ordered GPS device that tracked his whereabouts. Eventually, the device linked him at the Fresh Holes Road residence at the approximate time of the murder and at the pond where the weapon was found. In another nod to 'The Wire', a fictitious woman who is cooperating with police is killed when the shooter stands outside of her window at night, and taps on the glass to draw her attention before shooting at her through the window.
Subsequently, Lampley was inside his home on the night of his killing, when he was shot by someone standing outside of his bedroom window, according to a 2011 report from Cape Wide News. Police also discovered that Hampton and Lampley had a previous connection. Hampton testified in court that Lampley was involved in another murder of Jacques Sellers in July 2007. Sellers was also shot inside his home through a window from outside.