DNA evidence left on a sweet potato found at the scene where Todd Lampley was killed provided authorities the major break they needed to solve the years-old murder.
Devarus Hampton, of Mashpee, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, the Cape Cod Times reported. The plea came exactly 12 years after Lampley was shot and killed on February 27, 2011 in the village of Hyannis.
Hampton is accused of shooting into a window outside the home, a yellow duplex on Fresh Holes Road. Lampley, a father to young daughters and a Mississippi native, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities also recovered shell casings and a black cell phone at the scene registered to Marlo Stanfield, a fictional character from the HBO television show “The Wire.” They also found a sweet potato covered in Hampton’s DNA.
“There’s also a sweet potato used as a silencer on the TV show,” First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Elumba said in court.
At the time of the murder, Hampton was also reportedly wearing a GPS tracking bracelet, and authorities were subsequently able to tie his GPS location to Lampley’s home around the time of the killing. Elumba said Hampton’s location data also placed him at the lake where the gun used in the murder was dumped and then later recovered by civilians.
Hampton’s lawyer, Edward Fogarty, meanwhile argued his client’s innocence.
“It is a very old case,” he told the times. “After review of whatever the Commonwealth now says they have as evidence, we’re confident it will result in his innocence.”
Hampton was ordered held without bond. He is due back in court n Barnstable County on April 5.