Man convicted in 1990 Stone Mountain rape, double murder of Sumpter siblings

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Kenneth Perry, the Loganville man accused of murdering a brother and sister in Stone Mountain more than three decades ago, has been found guilty on all charges.

What we know:

The original attack happened on July 15, 1990, at an apartment complex on Tree Hills Parkway.

When DeKalb County police arrived, Pamela Sumpter, 43, told officers she had been raped and stabbed, and that her brother, 46-year-old John Sumpter, had also been stabbed and possibly died in their apartment next door.

Pamela was able to give the police a description of the suspect, telling police her brother had brought a man from Detroit to their apartment. She died from her injuries nearly two weeks later.

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Authorities say DNA evidence and forensic genetic genealogy analysis eventually helped link Perry to the crimes. The case was finally moved forward after more than 30 years with the help of a federal grant.

Perry was indicted in January 2025 on multiple charges, including two counts of malice murder, felony murder, rape, aggravated battery, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony.

After the jury was selected, Perry took to the stand to testify on March 10, 2025, in his own defense.

The very next day, a DeKalb County jury reached a verdict, finding him guilty on two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, rape, four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of possession of a knife during the commission of a felony and theft by taking.

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What's next:

Perry will be sentenced at 9 a.m. on March 18. The Sumpter family will have the opportunity then to give their victim impact statements.

How Kenneth Perry was caught

Timeline:

District Attorney Sherry Boston's office provided the following investigative timeline of events:

• November 2022: As part of its continuing initiative to test pre-1999 rape kit evidence, the GBI sent the DNA samples from Ms. Sumpter’s rape kit to a private lab using task force funds from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s (CJCC) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).
• February 2023: The rape kit was analyzed by BODE Technology and a male DNA profile was identified and uploaded into Georgia’s statewide DNA database in June 2023 with no match at the state level.
• Spring 2023: An investigator in the DeKalb County DA’s Office completed an audit of 50 DeKalb County unsolved homicide cases in preparation to apply for a federal grant for prosecuting cases using DNA. The case was chosen as a good candidate for the grant as it contains DNA from an unknown individual.
• October 2023: The DA’s Office received the "Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA" grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). 
• February 2024: The DA’s Office worked with the GBI to upload the DNA profile at the national level and received a match soon afterward to an unprosecuted sexual assault case in Detroit, Michigan in 1992.
• March 2024: The DA’s Office received the Detroit case file. The victim identified the suspect as her ex-boyfriend, Kenneth Perry. A DA’s Office investigator located a man in Loganville, Georgia with the same name and birthdate as the Detroit suspect. 
• April 2024: Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG), Othram, a private lab partner, determined genealogical matches to the DNA from Pamela Sumpter’s rape kit "formed a family network that could include Mr. Perry." They recommended testing a direct sample from Mr. Perry for confirmation.
• June 6, 2024: Members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit executed an arrest warrant and Perry was taken into custody without incident. Investigators collected a DNA sample from Perry to confirm that he was the perpetrator in the 1990 case.
• June 20, 2024: The GBI notified the DA’s Office that the DNA sample collected from Perry at the time of his arrest was a match to the DNA collected in Ms. Sumpter’s rape kit.

Full verdict, DeKalb County DA remarks