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Written by: A. Smith
Published March 7, 2025 @ 9:30 AM ET
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. – More than three decades after the brutal murders of two siblings in their Stone Mountain apartment, the trial of Kenneth Perry is now underway in DeKalb County.
Perry, 55, was indicted in June on multiple charges, including two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault, one count of rape, one count of theft by taking, and two counts of possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Prosecutors allege that Perry stabbed 46-year-old John Sumpter to death before raping and fatally stabbing his sister, 43-year-old Pamela Sumpter, on July 15, 1990.
During opening statements, DeKalb County Senior Assistant District Attorney Shannon Hodder told jurors the trial is about “holding him accountable for those horrific crimes and for providing justice for the Sumpter family who has lived in a nightmare ever since.”
Prosecutors said Pamela Sumpter woke up that night to find a naked man armed with a knife in her room. She was raped, strangled, and stabbed multiple times. After the assault, she attempted to call for help but discovered all the phone cords in the home had been cut. Searching for assistance, she found her brother’s lifeless body in the living room before finally reaching neighbors, to whom she identified her attacker.
At the hospital, Pamela provided detectives with a description of her assailant, stating he was a friend of her brother. She also told them she believed he had recently moved from Detroit or was visiting from there. She succumbed to her injuries on August 5, weeks after the attack, but not before a rape kit was administered.
Despite this evidence, the case remained unsolved for decades. In 2022, as part of an effort to address a backlog of pre-1999 rape kits, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tested Pamela Sumpter’s rape kit and linked Perry’s DNA to the crime. Investigators also found a match to an alleged rape case in Michigan that had not been prosecuted, in which the victim had also identified Perry as the suspect.
Officials later determined a man with the same name was living in Loganville, just one county away from where the murders occurred. Using forensic genetic genealogy (FGG), authorities were able to confirm Perry’s identity. The FGG analysis, made possible through a federal grant, utilizes public genealogy databases and investigative techniques to identify suspects in cold cases. Once in custody, Perry’s DNA was collected through a search warrant and matched to samples from both the Michigan case and the DeKalb murders.
Inside the courtroom Tuesday, prosecutors pointed to the DNA evidence and Pamela Sumpter’s statements before her death as proof of Perry’s guilt. “She was raped and brutalized, but she told police about her rapist,” the state prosecutor told the jury.
However, Perry’s defense attorney, Daryl Queen, challenged the evidence, calling the Sumpters’ deaths “tragic” and “brutal” but arguing that the forensic findings alone do not prove his client committed the murders. “Some things are clear, but it doesn’t tell you the whole picture. When you see the whole picture, you’d be left with questions,” Queen said.
Queen acknowledged that Perry’s DNA was found at the scene but maintained that his client was not responsible for the killings. “The DNA evidence is clear, but it’s not sufficient. The fingerprints are somewhat clear, but they are not sufficient,” he said.
“We’re going to ask you to return a verdict that is long overdue in this case. A verdict that will finally give the Sumpter family justice, that will hold this man accountable for what he did to John and Pamela Sumpter,” Hodder told the jury.
The prosecution plans to call multiple witnesses throughout the trial, including retired investigators who originally worked the case. The trial is expected to pause Thursday and Friday before resuming on Monday.