A Loganville man has been convicted for a cold case dating back to 1990, thanks to DNA evidence, according to DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston. 56-year-old Kenneth Perry was found guilty on charges including two counts of Malice Murder, Rape, and related offenses connected to the deaths of Pamela Sumpter, 43, and her brother John Sumpter, 46, as reported by the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office.
The incident occurred on July 15, 1990, when officers responded to a stabbing at an apartment complex in Stone Mountain, Georgia. They found Pamela Sumpter at a neighbor's apartment, wounded and sexually assaulted after the phone lines in her unit were cut. She told officers her brother had also been attacked. John Sumpter was found dead at the scene. Pamela later gave a description of the assailant before dying from her injuries on August 5, 1990. The case went cold with no arrests.
In October 2023, the Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs allowed for a new investigation. This grant helped the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office work with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and private lab partner Othram to uncover new evidence in the case, bringing Perry to trial.
The investigation revisited the case, leading to a DNA match linking Perry to the crimes. Perry was also linked to an unsolved 1992 sexual assault in Detroit, Michigan. With help from Senior Assistant District Attorney Shannon Hodder and retired Detective Bright of the DeKalb County Police Department, the investigation pieced together evidence leading to Perry's arrest on June 6, 2024. The DNA match, confirmed on June 20, 2024, solidified Perry's involvement in the Sumpter case.
Perry's sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday next week, according to DeKalb County Superior Court Chief Judge Shondeana C. Morris.
