The Murder of Tamika Huston
Warning, this case discusses sexual assault and domestic violence.
For this case, I watched an episode of Forensic Files. It’s season 13 episode 19, titled ‘Skeleton Key.’
A 24-year-old woman is reported missing by her aunt in 2004.
Background
Tamika Huston had dreams of one day becoming a singer. She was so talented, and even tried out for American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia. She stood outside for hours, and was disappointed when she didn’t make it past the first round.
Tamika realized that it would be hard to make it big in the music industry, so she decided to go back to school for a nursing degree.
Tamika was described as adventurous and spontaneous.
Tamika Huston
The Disappearance
By the summer of 2004, Tamika’s aunt, Rebekah Howard, thought it was odd that she hadn’t heard from her niece in awhile. She realized no one else had heard from her either.
Rebekah contacted the Spartanburg, South Carolina police on June 14, 2004. They went to Tamika’s house. Tamika’s 1991 black Honda CRX was missing, and the doors were locked. One officer was able to make entrance into the home through an unlocked window. Inside, he found Tamika’s beloved dog was found, and she had given birth to several puppies. It was clear that her dogs had been left there for weeks, and were starving.
An APB was put out for Tamika’s car, and her family put up flyers all around the Spartanburg area.
A Possible Motive
The police checked Tamika’s phone and bank records. They hadn’t been used since she disappeared.
While the police were investigating, Tamika’s ex-boyfriend, Terence Moss came forward to offer his assistance. Tamika and Terence had been living together, but had broken up 3 months before Tamika disappeared.
The police also learned that Tamika had accused Terence of hitting her, which he admitted to doing only once. In this episode, he said he hit her, and immediately fell to his knees after. Tamika filed charges, and the two were set to go to court a few weeks before she disappeared. The court case was eventually postponed.
Terence became a person of interest, but after the police received a tip, he was ruled out.
A Key Clue
A woman had contacted the police. She said she had seen the flyers around town of Tamika and her car, and had possibly seen the car they were looking for. She was correct it was Tamika’s car, and it was found in a random apartment complex, just 4 miles from her home.
The police could only find a partial fingerprint in the car. It wasn’t a match to Terence, and it didn’t match anyone in the database. The police also found a set of keys on the floor on the passenger side. The keys didn’t work in Tamika’s car, or at her house. The police believed the keys belonged to whoever had taken or hurt Tamika.
On one of the keys, there was a stamp ‘AA14.’ The keys were taken to all the locksmiths in the area. Luckily, one of the locksmiths was able to tell the police that keys were made for the Fremont School Apartments. These apartments had once been an elementary school, which the government turned into public housing.
The Fremont School Apartments, now the Brick Lofts. They have been renovated into upscale apartments.
The police checked all 46 apartments, but the keys didn’t work. The police learned from the apartment manager that the doorknobs were all switched out after a tenant was evicted. The maintenance employees didn’t keep great records, so they couldn’t trace where the doorknob came from.
The police hadn’t tried an abandoned apartment in the basement. Luckily, the keys worked. The apartment was abandoned due to flooding issues, and no one had been there for quite awhile.
A New Suspect
The apartment manager was cooperative, and handed over a list of former and past tenants. The list was shown to Tamika’s friends and family. Tamika’s family didn’t recognize any of the names, but a good friend of Tamika’s did.
Tamika’s friend said that Tamika had been seeing a new man named Chris. She didn’t know his last name, but the only Chris on the list was a man named Christopher Hampton.
Christopher had a criminal history, and had been convicted of robbing a bank in May 2000. Christopher had been out of jail during the time of Tamika’s disappearance.
Christopher was located, and was in jail due to a parole violation. Christopher told the police that he knew Tamika, but had no idea where she was. Christopher’s fingerprints were not a match to the partial print found in her car.
The police received a phone call from Christopher’s ex, and the mother of his 2 young children. She said that Christopher had mailed her his wallet for safekeeping. She said that she found a spot of blood on a photo of her and the kids inside the wallet. She told the police they could come and get the wallet.
The spot came back positive for blood. The blood came back as belonging to Tamika.
Apartment 215
When Christopher was confronted about the blood, he claimed that it could’ve been anyone’s blood. He still denied being involved. The police did have circumstantial evidence, but they didn’t have a body.
A woman that had been seeing Christopher during the time of Tamika’s disappearance contacted the police. She said she had been following Tamika’s case, and had been in Christopher’s apartment, apartment 215, around the time that Tamika disappeared.
The woman said she had seen a large red-brown stain on the floor of Christopher’s bedroom, and that his dresser was pushed up against his closet.
About 14 months after Tamika disappeared, the police obtained a search warrant for the apartment. Inside, there had been an obvious clean up job. There had been a large amount of bleach used. The police pulled up the carpet, and found blood underneath.
The forensics team also sprayed luminol in the apartment, and more blood was found. The DNA and blood eventually came back as belonging to Tamika.
A Confession?
At first, Christopher had nothing to say when he was confronted. At one point during the interrogation, he stood up, and told the police he would show them where he put Tamika.
Christopher led them to Tamika’s remains in a shallow grave, which were confirmed by her dental records. He had marked the area with a cross made with sticks.
Christopher claimed that Tamika had come to his apartment while he was getting ready to go out. He said he was ironing his outfit when Tamika became angry. Christopher said he also became angry, and hit Tamika with his iron. A drop of blood got onto his wallet, and blood got all over the floor. He said he wrapped her in bed sheets, and put her into the closet. He then had sex (nope, sexually assaulted because age of consent in SC in 16) with a 15-year-old that night. Yes, the person who called police to say she had been in his apartment was 15.
The next day, Christopher borrowed a friend’s car, and buried Tamika. He then ditched her car, and dropped his keys in the process. Christopher claimed it was an accident, but you can’t believe anything this piece of shit says.
In 2006, Christopher pled guilty on his first day of trial. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Christopher Hampton
Other
According to Oxygen.com and a four part documentary series on HBO Max, called Black and Missing, Tamika’s case was overshadowed by the cases of Natalee Holloway and Jennifer Wilbanks.
Thirteen years after Tamika’s case made headlines, Anthony Huston, Tamika’s father, and his wife, Jennifer, were both found dead in their home of an apartment murder-suicide.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My heart truly breaks for Tamika’s family. Yes, justice was served, but it took a long time for the truth to be revealed. Christopher Hampton is fucking scum. He had sex, or excuse me, sexually assaulted a 15-year-old while Tamika was in his fucking apartment. I hope he rots because he is absolutely disgusting. Tamika lost her life at the hands of a truly evil man.
Sources
https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/murdered-tamika-huston/
