Man Who Killed Siblings In 35-Year Cold Case Convicted In DeKalb

DECATUR, GA — A Loganville man was convicted of murder in the 1990 rape of a woman and fatal stabbing of her and her brother, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston's office said Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Kenneth Perry, 56, was convicted of malice murder after they say he raped Pamela Sumpter before stabbing her and her brother, John Sumpter.

The fatal stabbing occurred on July 15, 1990 at a Tree Hills Parkway apartment in Stone Mountain. When DeKalb County police officers arrived at the scene, they found Pamela Sumpter at a neighbor's apartment.

She went to the neighbor's home for assistance since her phone lines had been cut, prosecutors said. Sumpter, who was visibly injured, told police she had been raped and stabbed, prosecutors said.

After she told officers her brother had also been stabbed, prosecutors said police found John Sumpter dead in the living room of the apartment that he and his sister shared.

Pamela Sumpter was taken to a hospital, where a rape kit was performed and DNA was collected, prosecutors said.

According to Pamela Sumpter's police interview, her brother brought a man who she did not know much about to their apartment. Prosecutors said the man was a new acquaintance from Detroit, Michigan.

Pamela Sumpter died of injuries on Aug. 5, 1990 at the hospital, prosecutors said.

The case went cold, but prosecutors said Perry was identified as the suspect after at least 30 years by way of a federal grant secured in October 2023.

A multi-agency effort ultimately led authorities to match Perry's DNA to an un-prosecuted 1992 sexual assault in Detroit, prosecutors said.

Perry was arrested without incident on June 6, 2024 in DeKalb County, prosecutors said. A motive in the killings was not revealed.

On Tuesday, he was convicted of 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, prosecutors said.

Boston's office offered the following prepared cold case investigative timeline:

November 2022: As part of its continuing initiative to test pre-1999 rape kit evidence, the GBI sent the DNA samples from Pamela Sumpter’s rape kit to a private lab using task force funds from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

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's Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance.

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

April 2024: 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 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 suspect 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 Pamela Sumpter’s rape kit.

DeKalb County Superior Court Chief Judge Shondeana C. Morris will sentence Perry at 9 a.m., March 18.