Gwinnett Man In 1990 Killing Of DeKalb Siblings Indicted, D.A. Says

DECATUR, GA — A Loganville man accused of raping a woman, and stabbing to death both her and her brother, in their Stone Mountain home nearly 34 years ago has been indicted, DeKalb County officials said Wednesday.

A DeKalb County grand jury indicted on Tuesday Kenneth Perry, 55, on several charges stemming from the July 1990 stabbing deaths of a woman and her brother, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston's office said.

Perry was indicted on 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, Boston said.

Case Background

DeKalb County Police responded on July 15, 1990 to a Tree Hills Parkway apartment complex on a person stabbed call, Boston said.

When officers arrived, Boston said they found Pamela Sumpter, 43, at a neighbor's apartment. She told officers she had been raped and stabbed, and that her brother, 46-year-old John Sumpter, had also been stabbed, Boston said.

John Sumpter was found dead in the apartment he shared with his sister, Boston said.

After being taken to a hospital, Boston said Pamela Sumpter completed a rape kit, and DNA from her suspected attacker was extracted.

During a police interview, Boston said Pamela Sumpter told investigators that her brother brought a man from Detroit, Michigan, over to their apartment. She did not know much about the man, Boston said.

Almost a month later, Pamela Sumpter died of her injuries in the hospital, Boston said. Then, her case went cold.

More than 12 years later, in November 2022, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent DNA samples from Pamela Sumpter's rape kit to a private lab as part of an initiative to test pre-1999 rape kits, Boston said.

In February 2023, Boston said BODE Technology was used to analyze the rape kit. A male DNA profile was identified and was uploaded into Georgia’s statewide DNA database in June 2023 with no match at the state level, Boston said.

Then, in October 2023, Boston's office received the Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA grant via a program through the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant was utilized to identify Perry, Boston said.

Identifying a Suspect

After Boston's office partnered with the GBI in February to nationally share a DNA profile, Boston said the profile matched an un-prosecuted 1992 sexual assault case in Detroit.

Local prosecutors received the Detroit case file and learned the Detroit victim identified the suspect as her ex-boyfriend, who was identified as Perry, Boston said.

Investigators found a man in Loganville with the same name and birthdate as the Detroit suspect, Boston said.

"Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy, 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," Boston's office said in a news release.

A collected DNA sample from Perry confirmed he was identified as the suspect in the Sumpters case, Boston said. The GBI notified Boston's office Thursday that the DNA sample matched the DNA collected in Pamela Sumpter's rape kit, prosecutors said.

On June 6, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit executed an arrest warrant and Perry was taken into custody without incident in Gwinnett County, Boston said. He remained in the DeKalb County Jail without bond, Boston said.