Fall River man sentenced to prison after woman stabbed 22 times, leaving eyeball out of its socket, in former Sam’s Club parking lot

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, III has announced that a Fall River man was sentenced in the Fall River Superior Court by the Honorable Thomas Perrino on Friday to serve a State Prison sentence of 38-40 years for an Attempted Murder, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon Causing Serious Bodily Injury and Mayhem that occurred on January 21, 2021 in the City of Fall River.

33-year-old Derrell Hampton pled guilty to the charges on Thursday.  The case had been scheduled for trial in the Fall River Superior Court on Monday.

On January 21, 2021, at approximately 8:45 p.m., a tow truck driver located the 35-year-old female victim inside of her vehicle in the parking lot adjacent to the vacant Sam’s Club and Walmart in Fall River.  The victim was covered in blood, and her left eyeball was seen protruding from its socket.  There were multiple areas of blood inside of the vehicle.  Police and EMS responded to the 911 call placed by the tow truck driver. The female victim was transported to Rhode Island Hospital.  The victim was discovered to have been stabbed 22 times. 

Police secured a search warrant for the victim’s vehicle and recovered her cellphone along with a straight blade knife and knife sheath.  Surveillance video from the Walmart parking lot at approximately 8:00 p.m. that evening showed a male on foot with a cell phone in hand and dark colored hat with light colored pom-pom get picked up by the victim’s vehicle.  The victim’s vehicle is then seen to drive, suddenly stop, then drive in circles before stopping in the location it was found by the tow truck driver.  The male is seen fleeing the car on foot at 8:14 heading toward Quequechan Street.  The male was carrying gray pants he previously was wearing and fled wearing black pants.  No other individuals were seen near or approaching the victim’s vehicle until it was located by the tow truck driver.

Police located a blood trial on the sidewalk of Quequechan Street and onto the Quequechan trail.  A pair of winter gloves with blood inside were seized from a trash can close to the trail’s entrance.  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.  At 7:25 p.m. the male asks 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 determine pursuant to his investigation that the individual sending the text message had an email account registered to the defendant with an address on Rock Street in Fall River. 

Further review of video surveillance showed the suspect wearing the dark colored hat with light pom-pom at 8:50 p.m. approach the intersection of Pine and Rock Street, turning onto Rock Street.  On February 3, 2021, Det. Pereira observed the defendant outside of his listed address of 229 Rock Street wearing the dark colored hat with light pom-pom and with a large wound on his left hand.  Pursuant to a search warrant, police seized two cellular devices that were located inside of the defendant’s apartment on his bed.  Further analysis revealed a Google maps walking path the night of the attack which were consistent with the movements of the assailant.  A photograph was also located on the phone depicting the defendant wearing the pom-pom hat wore by the assailant.  The dark colored hat with pom-pom was also seized.

DNA testing revealed, amongst other findings,  the defendant’s DNA was present in a blood stain located on the Quequechan Trail and the victim’s DNA was present on the pom-pom of the hat worn by the defendant on the night of the attack.

The victim in this case lost her left eye and part of one thumb.  The victim has been permanently injured as a result of this attack and is completely dependent on others for care. 

“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.  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,” District Attorney Tom Quinn said.