A murder that had gone unsolved for nearly 12 years had a breakthrough last month when investigators were able to charge a suspect thanks to a sweet potato found at the scene. The vegetable had been home to DNA from the suspect, who has since been arrested and charged, court records show.
The court documents obtained by CNN show that 40-year-old Devarus Hampton has been charged with the 2011 murder of 31-year-old Todd Lampley, who was shot in a home in Massachusetts.
Hampton pleaded not guilty on Monday after appearing in Barnstable District Court for the charges, exactly 12 years after the killing on Feb. 27, 2011.
For over a decade Lampley’s death went unsolved, even with several pieces of evidence being collected from the scene of the crime.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, shell casings were collected from the crime scene, along with a sweet potato outside the window of the bedroom where Lampley was shot and killed.
Lt. Mathew Lavoie, an officer with the Massachusetts State Police, wrote in the paperwork that investigators thought the potato was “used as a silencing device to muffle the sound of gunshots” as it was cut in half with a hole carved through the center that had been “blown out,” the Cape Cod Times reported.
However, the potato was not examined again, as investigators began collecting other evidence to try and build a case and find a suspect.
Among the things collected were phone records that showed Hampton had exchanged texts and calls with a man who was in the house with Lampley when he was killed, the affidavit shared, CNN reported. Other evidence included data from a GPS monitoring bracelet that Hampton was wearing at the time, as he was on probation for an unrelated case.
The data also showed Hampton had been around the house when the shooting took place, the affidavit shared.
A few days after the shooting, Hampton was arrested for an unrelated case, and refused to speak with investigators looking into Lampley’s killing, according to the document.
While that seemed like the end of the road, in 2016, authorities were able to collect a DNA sample from Hampton after he spit a loogie into a puddle, the affidavit said.
Hampton was unaware the DNA was collected, but an outside lab was able to find a high probability the DNA profiles from a swab of the sweet potato and his spit matched.
Currently, Hampton is being held without bail and will return to court on April 5.
