Cold case: Sweet potato, DNA links suspect to 12-year-old murder, prosecutors say

Prosecutors said police found a phone attached to the name Marlo Stanfield, which is a fictional name from the show 'The Wire.'

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Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Sweet potato, DNA links suspect to 12-year-old murder: prosecutors
Devarus Hampton was charged in the shooting death of Todd Lampley. Police found a phone attached to Marlo Stanfield, a name from the show "The Wire."

HYANNIS, Mass. -- A man was charged Monday 12 years to the day after a Massachusetts man was found dead.

Barnstable police responded on Feb. 27, 2011 to a shooting in Cape Cod village Hyannis. Officers found 31-year-old Todd Lampley shot to death in a bedroom.

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Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois announced Friday that Devarus Hampton, 40, of Mashpee, was charged in Lampley's death.

Hampton is facing charges of murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Prosecutors said police found a phone attached to the name Marlo Stanfield, which is a fictional name from the show "The Wire." A sweet potato was also found at the scene, which was used in that show as a silencer, officials said.

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After testing, prosecutors said the sweet potato had Hampton's DNA on it.

Prosecutors also explained that during the time of the murder, Hampton was wearing a GPS monitor because of a previous crime. They say the GPS tracking put Hampton at the home at the time of the murder.