A Dallas woman is serving 30 years in prison after fatally shooting another woman outside a PetSmart following a fight that began over not saying thank you for holding a door. Keona Hampton pleaded guilty last month to murder in the 2025 killing of 41-year-old Cecilia Simpson.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Hampton, 23, was sentenced under a plea agreement approved by state District Judge Tammy Kemp. She received credit for 303 days already spent in jail. Court records show she pleaded guilty on Sept. 23 in the killing that occurred outside a PetSmart in the Red Bird area.
The confrontation started Oct. 7, 2025, at a Five Below in the Wheatland Towne Crossing shopping center on West Wheatland Road. Simpson held a door open for Hampton as they left the store, then became upset when Hampton didn’t say thank you, sparking an argument, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Simpson and a companion drove to a nearby PetSmart in the same center, where Hampton followed. The argument continued inside or near the store until employees asked them to leave.
In the parking lot, as Simpson and the companion were leaving in their car, Hampton threw a bottle at the vehicle. Simpson got out and confronted her, and the argument turned into a physical fight. As the companion tried to break it up, Hampton pulled a handgun and fired three shots at Simpson before fleeing, the affidavit states.
Simpson was taken to a hospital and later died. Hampton was arrested the same day after surveillance video helped identify her vehicle. She was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury in November 2025.
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