Kriti Mehrotra
When 24-year-old dog mom, nursing student, and waitress Tamika Huston disappeared without a trace left behind around late May 2004, it truly left the entire nation baffled to the core. That’s because, as explored in ABC’s ’20/20: The Girl Who Looked Like Me,’ she was not only the epitome of beauty and grace but also had a lot to look forward to in life, so her vanishing didn’t make sense. Thus, it’s no surprise it took investigators a while to uncover she had actually been having relationship troubles with Christopher Lamont Hampton to such an extent he ended up killing her in a fit of blind rage.
Christopher Hampton Murdered Tamika Following a Fight Over Money
While it’s unclear precisely how and when Christopher first came across Tamika, we do know they had officially been together for merely two or three months when she suddenly went missing. According to the former, the fact he was already expecting a child with another woman was a point of contention in their affinity, which ultimately came to a head in his apartment on May 27, 2004. The then 25-year-old was admittedly ironing his clothes for work when his girlfriend asked him for some money, only for him to refuse since he had been consciously saving to care for his unborn daughter.
Little did Christopher know this would lead to a massive argument, with Tamika going as far as to accuse him of caring more about someone who didn’t even exist yet than her as a partner. That’s when he snapped and threw the hot iron in his hand in her direction, just for it to hit her head — she reportedly died on the spot, leaving him panicked and with no idea about what to do next. According to records, he subsequently walked out of his house, got into his car, and aimlessly drove around for nearly an hour before returning home with the intention of doing damage control.
Christopher actually borrowed a friend’s car, placed Tamika inside, and drove almost all night long before deciding to bury her naked in the woods — he never once stopped at any hospital. As per his account, he briefly considered turning himself in, yet all he did was strip her naked and apologize, while still hoping she would somehow wake up. However, court records indicate that before he did all this, he rolled her in a comforter, hid her in his closet, bleach-cleaned his home, as well as had sex with another woman in the same bedroom.
Christopher Hampton Only Confessed After Being Arrested for Murder
Since Tamika lived alone, it actually wasn’t until June 14, 2004, that she was reported missing, only for Christopher to be in jail at the time on an unrelated traffic charge. He was released in July, following which he returned to the place he had buried her and took her out with the intention of turning himself in, just to soon grow afraid of losing his freedom and backtrack. However, this time around, before burying her, he reportedly also decapitated her, placed her head in a grocery bag, and disposed of it in a nearby garbage dumpster.
Christopher didn’t come forth with the even when he was questioned by investigators in the ensuing months, just to then end up behind bars once again on an unrelated federal bank robbery charge. He was released on August 12, 2005, unaware local authorities were already waiting for him with an arrest warrant for Tamika’s murder. It was only then that he was taken into custody for good, where he finally confessed to everything that had happened before taking officials to her gravesite so as to finally bring the matter to a close and give her loved ones some closure.
Christopher Lamont Hampton is Now Serving a Life Term
Despite his actions, Christopher has tried to maintain he is not a monster but simply a man who made a mistake. Nevertheless, once he pleaded guilty to the charge of murder in 2005, he was sentenced to life in prison. Therefore, today, at the age of 45, he remains incarcerated at the mixed-security Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, South Carolina.
