The suspect’s DNA was found on a sweet potato left on scene.
Prosecutors say the alleged killer was caught thanks in part to a root vegetable used in the crime, which happened 12 years after a person was shot and killed on Cape Cod.
On Feb. 27, 2011, Todd Lampley was found shot to death in a Hyannis, Massachusetts, home.
Devarus Hampton, who is 40 years old, was arrested in Massachusetts on Friday. He was brought to court on Monday, which was exactly 12 years after the crime. Hampton said he wasn’t guilty, so he was kept in jail without bail.
A prosecutor with the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office said that at the time of the murder, police found three shell casings and a sweet potato with a hole in it. Prosecutors said that Hampton’s DNA was found on the sweet potato.
The prosecutor, First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Elumba, said, “The sweet potato appears to be used as a silencer,”
Fans of the HBO drama “The Wire” may remember an episode where a sweet potato was used as a silencer. This led to a lot of people trying it out on the internet to see if it really worked. Police also found a cellphone at the scene of the murder that was registered to a character from “The Wire” named Marlo Stanfield. This suggests that the alleged killer may have been a fan of the show.
In a phone interview, Elumba said, “It’s an interesting way that the facts fit together.”
Elumba said in court that there is more proof that Hampton was at the house when Lampley was shot and killed, but she wouldn’t say why it took 12 years to make the arrest. Elumba said in court on Monday that Hampton was at the scene of the shooting because he was wearing a GPS monitor from a different crime. This showed that he was there at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors say that the gun used in the crime was also taken from a lake nearby.
Hampton will be back in court on April 5 in Barnstable County.