Fall River Man Sentenced 40 Years for Brutal 2021 Attempted Murder

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A Fall River man has been sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for the attempted murder of a woman back in 2021.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said Derrell Hampton, 33, was sentenced on September 5 to serve 38 to 40 years for attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and mayhem. He had pleaded guilty on all charges the day prior.

The Attack and Victim Impact

The charges date back to January 21, 2021, when at about 8:45 p.m., a tow truck driver located the 35-year-old female victim inside her vehicle in the parking lot adjacent to the vacant Sam’s Club and Walmart in Fall River. She was covered in blood, with her left eyeball protruding from its socket, and there were multiple areas of blood inside the vehicle. She was taken to Rhode Island Hospital and it was learned she had been stabbed 22 times.

A search warrant for her vehicle led police to recover her cell phone along with a straight-blade knife and knife sheath.

Surveillance video from the Walmart parking lot showed a man on foot with a cell phone in his hand and dark-colored hat with a light-colored pom-pom get picked up by the victim’s vehicle at about 8 p.m.

After starting to drive away, the vehicle then suddenly stopped before driving in circles, finally coming to a stop at the spot where the tow truck driver found it. The suspect was then seen fleeing the vehicle on foot at 8:14 p.m., heading toward Quequechan Street. He was carrying gray pants he was previously wearing, and fled wearing black pants. The D.A.’s Office stated no other individuals were near the victim’s vehicle until it was found by the tow truck driver.

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Evidence and Investigation

A blood trail on the sidewalk of Quequechan Street led onto the Quequechan Rail Trail. Near the entrance to the trail, police found a pair of winter gloves with blood inside discarded in a trash can.

“A search warrant for the victim's cell phone revealed messages between the victim and an unknown person indicating that the two would meet up in the Walmart lot,” the D.A.’s Office said. “At 7:25 p.m., the male asked the victim, via phone message, if he should begin walking to meet her, and she replied ‘yes.’”

Detective Moses Pereira of the Fall River Police Department was able to trace the text message back to Hampton through an email account it was associated with, which was then traced to a Rock Street address.

The surveillance video also showed Hampton wearing the hat with the pom-pom at 8:50 p.m. approaching the intersection of Pine Street and Rock Street, and then turning onto Rock Street.

Tracing Hampton

On February 3, 2021, Pereira saw Hampton outside of his address at 229 Rock Street wearing the same hat with the pom-pom, and with a large wound on his left hand. Police seized two cell phones from his apartment, which revealed a Google Maps walking path the night of the attack consistent with the movements of the assailant. He was also seen in a photo on the phone wearing the hat with the pom-pom. Police also seized the hat.

Through DNA testing, it was determined that Hampton’s DNA was present in a blood stain located on the Quequechan Rail Trail, and that the victim’s DNA was present on the pom-pom of the hat.

The D.A.’s Office pointed out that in addition to her 22 stab wounds, the victim completely lost her left eye and part of one thumb and “has been permanently injured as a result of this attack and is completely dependent on others for care.”

Statement From D.A. Quinn

"This is one of the worst acts of violence against a person that I have ever seen. The victim was stabbed 22 times and was left permanently incapacitated,” D.A. Quinn said. “I would like to thank Lieutenant Moses Pereira of the Fall River Police Department for his efforts in investigating this case. His thorough investigation made it a strong case for our office to prosecute. This 40-year sentence imposed by the court is what had to happen based upon the brutality of the defendant's actions.”