Kentucky mom escaped with children, but 2-year-old died. Another shot. Dad charged.
A Perry County man has been charged with murder after he allegedly shot two of his children, including a 2-year-old who died.
David Hampton, a 36-year-old Vicco resident, was taken into custody after Kentucky State Police and the Perry County Sheriff’s Office responded to Montgomery Creek Road to find two of Hampton’s young children had been shot, police said. The shooting happened just before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
The shooting happened inside the family’s home, according to trooper Matthew Gayheart. The mother and another child were in the home at the time, but they were unharmed, Gayheart said.
The mother, Christy Hampton, is a teacher in the Perry County school system.
She managed to get all three children out of the home after the shooting and over to her parents’ house next door, Gayheart said.
The children were evacuated from their grandparents’ house and transported to Hazard Appalachian Regional Healthcare by ambulance, police said. One child died at the hospital, according to the Perry County coroner’s office.
Perry County Sheriff Joe Engle said the child who died was 2 years old.
“It’s just a terrible thing,” Engle said. “It’s shocked the whole community.”
The injured child was flown to a hospital in Johnson City, Tenn., and was in stable condition Thursday morning, Gayheart said.
Hampton has been charged with murder — domestic violence, attempted murder and two counts of wanton endangerment, according to police and court records.
Police are still investigating what happened before the shootings, but police believe the attack was intentional and “premeditated,” Gayheart said.
Hampton was also charged with resisting arrest, according to court records. He was compliant with officers when they arrived on scene but didn’t stay that way after he was taken into custody.
“Once they got him through the post here for interview, he refused to go back into handcuffs,” Gayheart said.
A friend set up a GoFundMe account to help Christy Hampton.
Chrystal Napier said on the fundraising page that Hampton “is living a horrific nightmare right now.”
“I hurt so bad for her,” Napier said. “If it is in your heart to give and you are financially able to do so, please do so. If not please join us in prayer for Christy and her family.”
The solicitation had raised about $1,600 at mid-afternoon Friday.
David Hampton had faced criminal charges before, but nothing as serious as the new charges.
A state police officer arrested him in 2009 on charges of being drunk in public, disorderly conduct and menacing after receiving a complaint about him being at his family’s home, causing a disturbance, according to a citation.
Hampton was in the road when police arrived and began screaming at officers and walking toward the police cars “with his arms up saying, ‘Come on,’” trooper Chad Easterling said in the citation.
Hampton settled down after Easterling said he would use a Taser on him, but on the way to jail, cursed officers and screamed in the back seat, the citation said.,
Hampton served seven days in jail, according to the court docket.
He also was charged with driving an all-terrain vehicle while impaired in 2005 and with marijuana possession in 2003, court records show.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 7:20 AM.