Donte Lampkins was found dead last Thursday morning near an alley in the Hampton Terrace neighborhood of Seminole Heights. His death makes him the third gay man to be murdered in the Tampa area since December.
The 25 year old’s body was found lying near an alleyway between E Mohawk and Comanche avenues by construction workers. He also suffered an upper body trauma and detectives believe it wasn’t a random act.
The Lampkins was killed near the same area where two other gay men were killed. A 53-year-old nurse was killed inside his home, which an arrest was made for that murder. A 53-year-old social worker was beaten to death last week and three suspects are being closed in for that murder. Detectives are unsure if the murder cases are related but his murder is still a mystery.
His mother, Blanchie Williams, noticed that something wasn’t right when he didn’t return her call later on last Tuesday. His sister dropped home off in downtown Tampa that morning for a doctor’s appointment. He bought a bus ticket at 9:30 a.m. and called his mom around 10:30 a.m.
“When he didn’t call that night, I knew something terrible had happened,” Williams said. “He was always calling me, even when he was at work,” but she didn’t hear from him again.
A resident of the neighborhood said that she heard seven gunshots and someone running throught the alley where Lampkins was found. His family says that they didn’t know of anyone that he was close to that was from the area.
Donte was a student at Hillsborough Community College, where he majored in nursing, while working at the Convergys Corporate call center. Anyone with information about Lampkins’ death may call Tampa police at (813) 231-6130.
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