U.S. Marshals have captured the man they believe abused the dead body of an Alabama woman who went missing in December.
Fredrick Hampton, 50, is charged with abusing the corpse of Paighton Houston, 29, whose body was found in a shallow grave in Hueytown, Alabama. The woman had been missing since she texted friends and family from a bar before Christmas.
Hampton was once suspected of hiding in Georgia, but the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force captured Hampton around 7:39 p.m. Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Cliff LaBarge told AL.com.
Hampton, who has been convicted on sex crime charges, was arrested at a home in the Garlfield Heights neighborhood in Cleveland. There was a slight struggle to enter into the residence, marshals report, but Hampton eventually gave up and was taken into custody. He is being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail and awaiting extradition to Alabama.
Houston had been missing since Dec. 21, when she was seen leaving Tin Roof Bar in Birmingham. Her remains were discovered Jan. 3 in a shallow grave behind a house on Chapel Drive in Hueytown, which is 13 miles west of Birmingham.
When Houston was reported missing, family members said she willingly left the bar with two men, according to WUSA 9. However, the 29-year-old later texted a friend saying she didn't know where she was and felt she could be "in trouble" before her disappearance.
Early Thursday morning, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office released the results of the autopsy for Houston. According to the report, the Alabama woman’s death was due to an accidental overdose of morphine and methamphetamine toxicity. There were no signs of physical trauma to Houston’s body.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief David Agee said there is evidence that Houston and Hampton were together on the night of Dec. 20. From there, authorities have determined that after Houston died from the overdose, her 50-year-old acquaintance tampered with her body.
“We have evidence the victim died the next day at a house on McClain Street in Brighton. We have evidence that after the victim died, her body was disposed of in a criminal manner by Fredrick Hampton,” Agee said in a previous press conference.
Hampton was previously convicted in 1992 on first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy charges in Jefferson County, according to AL.com.
Houston's family is asking for volunteers to help put up yellow ribbons in her honor in Trussville on Saturday, according to a report by NBC affiliate WTVM. If you would like to help, email George Harding at pappageorgio10@gmail.com.
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