1990 DeKalb County Rape and Murder: DNA Breakthrough Leads to Arrest of Suspect Kenneth Perry in Pamela and John Sumpter Case

1990 Cold Case Breakthrough: Suspect Arrested in DeKalb County Rape and Stabbing

DNA Technology Leads to Arrest in 1990 DeKalb County Murder Case

According to True Crime News, authorities have arrested a suspect linked to a brutal crime from 1990 in a major breakthrough in a decades-old case. The incident that shocked DeKalb County involved the rape and fatal stabbing of a woman named Pamela Sumpter and her brother who is John Sumpter. The tragic events unfolded on July 15, 1990 when police responded to an apartment complex following reports of a stabbing. Pamela Sumpter found in a neighbor’s apartment had been raped and stabbed while her brother John was discovered deceased in their shared home. She was hurt but Pamela saw her brother on the apartment floor and called the police. The case remained unsolved despite significant efforts at the time until new developments in DNA technology offered hope. The suspect’s DNA profile was created in November 2022 after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent DNA evidence from the crime scene to a private laboratory. There was no match in Georgia’s DNA database but more research might have produced a result.

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1990 DeKalb County Rape and Murder: DNA Breakthrough Leads to Arrest of Suspect Kenneth Perry in Pamela and John Sumpter Case (PHOTO: Yahoo)

Kenneth Perry Arrested: Breakthrough in 1990 DeKalb County Cold Case

Authorities identified a possible match from a 1992 sexual assault case in Detroit in February. With assistance from genetic genealogy company Othram Inc. investigators honed in on Kenneth Perry who had ties to both Michigan and Georgia. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office took 55-year-old Kenneth Perry into custody on June 6. A DNA sample collected from him confirmed a match with the genetic material recovered from the 1990 crime scene. Subsequently a grand jury indicted Kenneth Perry on multiple charges including two counts of malice murder, rape, aggravated assault, and other felonies related to the incident. Currently held without bond in the DeKalb County Jail, Kenneth Perry awaits further legal proceedings. The arrest marks a significant development in a case that had long remained unsolved offering a sense of closure to the community and justice for the victims Pamela and John Sumpter whose lives were tragically cut short over three decades ago.

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