Cold case of brother, sister stabbed to death solved 34 years later with DNA technology

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Police have made an arrest in a DeKalb County cold case where a brother and sister were stabbed to death 34 years ago. DNA collected in a rape kit helped prosecutors match the suspect to the crime.

The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said Kenneth Perry has been indicted in the 1990 murders of John and Pamela Sumpter.

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“We now have closure,” James Sumpter said.

This is the day Sumpter and his family waited more than three decades for.

“It’s been 30 years since this terrible evil tragedy happened to my brother and sister,” Sumpter said.

Police responded to a person stabbed call in Stone Mountain. When they arrived, they found Pamela Sumpter critically injured at a neighbor’s home. Police later found her brother dead at his apartment.

Pamela Sumpter died from her injuries weeks later, but not before a rape kit was performed. She also gave police details about the suspect, whom she described as a friend of her brother’s that recently moved to Atlanta from Detroit.

“Thanks to a federal grant secured by my office last year, DNA evidence has now linked this defendant to murder,” DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said.

Boston said there are 600 cold cases in DeKalb County. They were able to audit 50 of those cases.

Two dozen cases, including the Sumpter case, were identified as good candidates for DNA samples.

Investigators used a new technology called—Forensic Genetic Genealogy to confirm a suspect from the DNA collected in the rape kit.

The case went cold for more than 30 years until Perry’s arrest earlier this month. A grand jury indicted Perry on Tuesday.

Perry, who lives in Loganville, faces two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, rape, four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, and theft by taking.

“God’s grace and mercy is sufficient,” Sumpter said.

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Here is a timeline of events released by the DA’s office.

July 15, 1990

According to the investigation, on July 15, 1990, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) responded to a report of a person stabbed at an apartment complex on Tree Hills Parkway in Stone Mountain. When DKPD arrived, they found Pamela Sumpter at a neighbor’s apartment. She was visibly injured and said she had been raped and stabbed.

Ms. Sumpter told officers that her brother, John Sumpter, had been stabbed as well. Officers found Mr. Sumpter deceased in the Sumpter’s apartment next door.

Ms. Sumpter was transported to the hospital where medical professionals collected a rape kit that included DNA from her attacker. Police interviewed Ms. Sumpter in the hospital. She told investigators her brother had brought a man over to their apartment. She knew very little about this new acquaintance, but she was able to give police a detailed description, including that he was from Detroit, Michigan.

August 5, 1990

Ms. Sumpter succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. The case went cold.

November 2022

As part of its continuing initiative to test pre-1999 rape kit evidence, the GBI sent the DNA samples from Ms. Sumpter’s rape kit to a private lab using task force funds from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s (CJCC) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).

February 2023

The rape kit was analyzed by BODE Technology and a male DNA profile was identified and uploaded into Georgia’s statewide DNA database in June 2023 with no match at the state level.

Spring 2023

An investigator in the DeKalb County DA’s Office completed an audit of 50 DeKalb County unsolved homicide cases in preparation to apply for a federal grant for prosecuting cases using DNA. The case was chosen as a good candidate for the grant as it contains DNA from an unknown individual.

October 2023

The DA’s Office received the “Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA” grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

February 2024

The DA’s Office worked with the GBI to upload the DNA profile at the national level and received a match soon afterward to an unprosecuted sexual assault case in Detroit, Michigan in 1992.

March 2024

The DA’s Office received the Detroit case file. The victim identified the suspect as her ex-boyfriend, Kenneth Perry. A DA’s Office investigator located a man in Loganville, Georgia with the same name and birthdate as the Detroit suspect.

April 2024

Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG), Othram, a private lab partner, determined genealogical matches to the DNA from Pamela Sumpter’s rape kit “formed a family network that could include Mr. Perry.” They recommended testing a direct sample from Mr. Perry for confirmation.

June 6, 2024

Members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit executed an arrest warrant and Perry was taken into custody without incident. Investigators collected a DNA sample from Perry to confirm that he was the perpetrator in the 1990 case.

June 20, 2024

The GBI notified the DA’s Office that the DNA sample collected from Perry at the time of his arrest was a match to the DNA collected in Ms. Sumpter’s rape kit.

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