Jennifer Lee Hampton, 21, AL -Missing 9/17/08 Knoxville BODY FOUND-Suspect in Custody

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Body identified as missing woman's

Monday, September 29, 2008 at 3:34 p.m.
A body found in a Knoxville, Tenn., lake over the weekend has been identified as a missing Florence woman, authorities said this afternoon.

Medical examiners made the positive identification on 21-year-old Jennifer Lee Hampton within an hour after her medical records from Florence arrived in Knoxville.

“The records arrived late this afternoon and it did not take long for the medical examiner to make the determination,” said Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk.

>>>>the complete article
http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080929/NEWS/809290295/1011/NEWS?Title=Body_identified_as_missing_woman_s

[Nut44x4]

Police declare missing woman victim of homicide
Investigation continues 'very quickly' as KPD assembles evidence

Police continue to search for suspects in the murder of Jennifer Lee Hampton, a 21-year-old Florence, Ala., woman, whose body was found Saturday, Sept. 27, more than a week after she disappeared.

According to Knoxville Police Department Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk, KPD is now pursuing the case as a homicide.

“We have evidence that shows she was a victim of a homicide,” DeBusk said.

As of press time, DeBusk would not reveal Hampton’s cause of death due to the ongoing investigation.

Since Hampton disappeared Friday, Sept. 19, DeBusk has stated police suspect foul play.

Hampton, staying in the Day’s Inn off Lovell Road, was last heard from around 11:30 p.m. that Friday night. She was reported missing the next day when she did not come to work at Mama Blue’s Café off Kingston Pike.

 
Hampton also left her cell phone, which according to family members, she was never without.

According to DeBusk, her hotel room was in disarray, but he could not reveal information about evidence recovered in the room.

At press time, KPD was awaiting results from Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Knox County medical examiner’s office on evidence recovered during the investigation.

“We have received some results from the T-B-I. We are still awaiting some results,” DeBusk said.

Hampton’s nude body was found in Melton Hill Lake near the Solway bridge by a local fisherman. The medical examiner positively ID’d the body Monday.

Also Monday, Hampton family attorney and spokesman Eddie Daniel asked that Knoxville citizens continue to pray for KPD.

“I know they’ll do everything in their power to get [the investigation] completed and prosecute these people to the fullest extent of the law,” Daniel said.

“We firmly feel that at some time in the future, the individual or individuals who committed this horrendous crime will be brought to justice,” he added.

According to DeBusk, no suspects have been ruled out.

“We’re moving forward very quickly,” DeBusk said of the investigation.

“We’re already discussing the facts of the case with the district attorney general’s office,” he added.

The family plans to return Hampton’s body to Alabama.

SunTrust Bank has set up a fund for donations to Hampton’s family, who has stayed in Knoxville since Hampton went missing. Money can be donated at any branch.

According to another family attorney, Matthew Cook, Hampton had planned to start nursing school “to help people.”

“She was just a wonderful, wonderful person,” Cook said.

“It’s a very sad day in Knoxville,” Daniel said.
http://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2008/09/9147.html

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Hampton murder suspect in custody
KPD has held suspect without bond since Saturday
Tue, Sep, 30, 2008

Knoxville Police Department announced Tuesday they have in custody a suspect in the Jennifer Lee Hampton murder.

The man, whose name KPD has not released, is being held without bond until police receive test results from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Knox County medical examiner’s office.

“A suspect in the case is currently being held without bond on unrelated charges,” said KPD Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk.

“We are currently awaiting tests to be performed on evidence that was recovered during the investigation,” he added.

DeBusk was unsure when test results would be available, saying it could be as early as this afternoon or as late as next week.

“We just don’t know at this point.”

“Charges on the death of Ms. Hampton will be forthcoming,” he added.

Hampton disappeared from the Day’s Inn off Lovell Road Friday, Sept. 19. Her body was found more than a week later in Melton Hill Lake in Solway, little more than six miles from the hotel.

Saturday, Sept. 20, KPD arrested two Day’s Inn employees on charges of falsifying documents. Both were illegal aliens with illegitimate social security cards.

Valentino Miranda nor Rogelio Melchor are currently being held without bond by order of federal immigration officials.

“It’s one of those two,” DeBusk said, adding KPD had only one suspect “at this time.”

Since Hampton disappeared, DeBusk has stated police suspect foul play.

“We have evidence that shows she was a victim of a homicide,” DeBusk said.

As of press time, DeBusk would not reveal Hampton’s cause of death due to the ongoing investigation.

According to DeBusk, Hampton’s hotel room was in disarray, but he could not reveal information about evidence recovered in the room.

Hampton’s nude body was found near the Solway bridge by a local fisherman. The medical examiner positively ID’d the body Monday.

Also Monday, Hampton family attorney and spokesman Eddie Daniel asked that Knoxville citizens continue to pray for KPD.

“I know they’ll do everything in their power to get [the investigation] completed and prosecute these people to the fullest extent of the law,” Daniel said.

“We firmly feel that at some time in the future, the individual or individuals who committed this horrendous crime will be brought to justice,” he added.

The family plans to return Hampton’s body to Alabama.

SunTrust Bank has set up a fund for donations to Hampton’s family, who has stayed in Knoxville since Hampton went missing. Money can be donated at any branch.

http://www.farragutpress.com/articles/2008/09/9149.html

[pdh3]

What a tragedy.
I feel so sad for her family.

Another young woman of promise killed by a scumbag. I hope he fries.

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Police: Suspect used master key to enter Jennifer Lee Hampton's room
Worried wife turned over bloody clothes to police

A single swipe of the card opened any door at the West Knoxville motel.

Police say Valentino Vasquez Miranda used that card the morning of Sept. 20 to get inside Jennifer Lee Hampton's room and strangle the former Alabama homecoming queen.

The card, together with Miranda's bloody clothes and a tip from his worried wife, led to his arrest, according to a warrant.

Miranda, 19, faces a charge of first-degree murder in Hampton's death. Authorities served him with the warrant this morning in jail.

The charges came a dozen days after Hampton, 21, disappeared from the Days Inn on Lovell Road and four days after a fisherman found her nude body floating in Melton Hill Lake, fewer than 10 miles from the motel.

Miranda and his wife, Rosa Rodriguez Hernandez, lived and worked at the motel. Knoxville Police Department Investigator Steve Still arrested Miranda and another man the day the investigation began when Still said they showed him bogus Social Security cards.

The same day, Hernandez turned over her husband's bloody clothes, Still wrote in an arrest warrant. DNA tests showed that blood came from Hampton, according to the warrant.

Motel records show Miranda used his master key card to unlock the door to Hampton's motel room, Still wrote.

Bond on the murder charge was set at $1 million. Miranda could appear in court Oct. 10 for a preliminary hearing.

His lawyer, Joseph Fanduzz, said he hadn't talked with Miranda this morning and wasn't ready to discuss the case.

As Hampton's family heads home to Alabama for her funeral, their attorney says they're taking comfort in Miranda's arrest and hoping other charges will follow.

"The family will attend any and all court hearings," said Eddie Daniel, their lawyer. "We're here for the duration. We understand the investigation is continuing and believe we will see the person or persons responsible for her death brought to justice."

Daniel said Hampton's mother, Cynthia Senn, along with her stepfather, grandmother and sisters, won't ever get over the loss but feel relieved to know the case is moving forward.

"We believe the Knoxville Police Department has a very strong case against him," the lawyer said. "Nobody can understand how any human being can commit such a horrendous act against such a beautiful, caring young lady."

He said the family holds out hope of others being charged as well.

No murder charges have been filed against Rogelio Melchor, 38, the other man arrested on forgery charges at the motel. The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency put a hold on him and Miranda after their arrest. That means neither man can leave jail, even with bail money.

Authorities identified Hampton's body on Monday, two days after its discovery in the lake.

Daniel said Hampton's parents can't thank Still, the other KPD officers or the Knox County medical examiner enough for their work.

"We look forward to this case being brought to justice," Daniel said.

KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk wouldn't say whether investigators have found Hampton's clothes or whether video from security cameras at nearby businesses offered any clues.

"We don't want to go into any evidence right now," he said. "There have been various personal items found, but we don't want to go into details."

Hampton left her cell phone behind, which friends said she always kept with her. Police won't say what her phone records show.

Hampton, a native of Waterloo, Ala., who planned to start nursing school, had come to Knoxville to help train new workers for the opening of Mama Blue's Buffet. A friend last saw her the night of Sept. 19 heading into her motel room, and her mother talked to her on the phone around 11:30 p.m.

Hampton's co-workers reported her missing the next day, and investigators found the room in "disarray." Police searched the surrounding area for more than a week - using helicopters, dogs and officers marching shoulder-to-shoulder - before her body turned up in the lake Saturday morning.

Hampton's family plan to bury her later this week in a private service in Florence, Ala.

Memorial donations may be made to the Jennifer Hampton Memorial Fund at SunTrust Bank or at Cokesbury United Methodist Church. The family plans to use that money for travel expenses to attend any trials or hearings in the case.

Checks may be sent to the Jennifer Hampton Memorial Fund, Cokesbury United Methodist Church, 9919 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37922.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/01/suspect-charged-alabama-womans-death/?partner=RSS

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Police investigate biological evidence found on body and in hotel room

Updated: 10/6/2008 11:00:52 AM


Police believe an Alabama woman's killer left biological proof of his attack on her body and in her hotel room.

Police have collected saliva samples from Valentino Miranda and hairs from his head, in hopes of proving he killed 21-year-old Jennifer Lee Hampton.

Hampton was in Knoxville for less than a week when she disappeared from her hotel room.

Hampton was staying in room 146 at the Days Inn on Lovell Road, while she helped to set up a new restaurant in Knoxville.

The former small-town homecoming queen was reported missing on September 20. Her body was found in Melton Hill Lake a week later.

Search warrants reveal Valentino's wife, who lived at the hotel with him and their 18-month-old child, told investigators he left their room at 3:55 a.m. on September 20, and that he returned around 5:20 a.m.

She also told investigators she saw blood on the sheets and pillowcase as they cleaned room 146. She would later find blood on her husband's clothes and turn them over to hotel management and then to police.

Police reports indicate a field test on the clothing did find the presence of human blood.

The report also indicates that the master key shared by Miranda and his wife was used to unlock the door of room 146 in the early morning hours of September 20.

Police also performed rape kit testing on Hampton's body. Evidence collected has been submitted to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

On the day of Hampton's disappearance, Knoxville police arrested two Days Inn housekeepers for fraudulent documents. Officers say Valentino Miranda and Rogelio Melchor had fake social security cards. Investigators say both men are illegal immigrants.

After receiving results from evidence given to TBI for analysis, Miranda is now also charged with Hampton's murder.

Detectives in the case believe analysis of the biological evidence by the TBI will identify Miranda as the source of biological evidence collected.

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=65813&provider=rss

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Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee)
 
December 4, 2008 Thursday 
 
Motel is target of lawsuit
 
The parents of an Alabama woman who was raped and killed in Knoxville have filed a $100 million lawsuit against the motel that employed an illegal immigrant who is alleged to have committed the crimes after using his employee's master key to get into her room.

Jennifer Lee Hampton, 21, was staying at the Days Inn motel, 326 Lovell Road, while in Knoxville to train new employees for a restaurant. She was reported missing Sept. 20 when she did not show up at a meeting with coworkers. Her nude body was later discovered near the shoreline of Melton Hill Lake in Anderson County.

Police later charged motel employee Valentino Vasquez Miranda, who was living at the motel, with firstdegree murder. Police and prosecutors say Miranda used a master key to enter

her room, then beat, raped and strangled her there and dumped her body in Anderson County.

The lawsuit alleges that the motel failed to do adequate background checks on Miranda and exercised virtually no security over its master keys, even after an earlier incident in which a female guest was assaulted.

According to a Knoxville Police Department report of that incident, there was no indication of forced entry, and two sisters from Virginia who were staying in the room said they believed the intruder had used "some sort of key" to gain entry. No arrests have been made in the incident, which occurred in late April.

The motel "had the ability to cure the problem of access to master keys by its employees at little or no cost," the lawsuit states, "and not doing so was grossly reckless and a direct and proximate cause of the illegal entry into Jennifer Hampton's room (by her assailant)."

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages. It was filed by Hampton's parents, Cynthia Senn and Michael Peeden of Florence, Ala.

"They would pay $100 million to Days Inn if they could just have their daughter back," said their attorney, C. Edward Daniel. "We plan to pursue this lawsuit vigorously," he said.

Defendants include the motel's parent organizations, Turkey Creek Hospitality Inc., Days Inn Worldwide and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.

Following a preliminary hearing in October, the criminal case against Miranda was sent to the Knox County grand jury for review. In that hearing, Rosa Rodriquez Hernandez, who lived with Miranda at the motel and also worked there, testified that he had taken their master key early on the morning when Hampton was killed. She said that, when she was cleaning Hampton's room, she noticed blood smears on the sheets and later noticed what appeared to be blood and semen stains on Miranda's pants.
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:893923956&start=3

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Man admits killing former homecoming queen

Associated Press - June 17, 2010 3:34 PM ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A young man has admitted killing an Alabama woman and accepted a plea deal that requires him to spend 51 years in prison.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that Valentino Vasquez Miranda, a 20-year-old Mexican who is in the U.S. illegally and does not speak English, signed the deal Thursday and is awaiting a judge's approval.

Miranda was working at a Knoxville Days Inn in September 2008 when guest Jennifer Hampton of Waterloo, Ala., disappeared. Police believe Miranda used a master key to enter the room.

The 21-year-old former homecoming queen was beaten, raped and strangled and her nude body was found in a lake several days later.

http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=12667571

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Hotel Worker Admits Rape, Murder of Shoals Woman

Posted: June 17, 2010 07:10 PM EDT

New developments in a story that we've been following since September of 2008.. A hotel worker in Knoxville, Tennessee has pled guilty in connection with the rape and murder of a woman from Waterloo.

According to our news partner, the Times Daily, 21 year old Valentino Vasquez Miranda agreed to a plea agreement on Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors allege that Miranda used his employee keys to break into the hotel room of Jennifer Lee Hampton, where he attacked and killed her. Hampton was in Knoxville on a business trip. Her body was found several days later.

Under the terms of the agreement, Miranda will escape the death penalty, and spent at least five decades behind bars.



http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12669298