Crime & Safety
Man Gets Life Without Parole in Bar Shooting Death
Dennis Lee Hampton, 43, was convicted in the 2013 shooting death of Takilam Terrell, 34, of Sandy Springs at the former Milo's Bar.
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A Canton man convicted in the murder of a man inside a now-shuttered bar has been given a life sentence.
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The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday said Dennis Lee Hampton, 43, will serve life without parole, plus 15 years, in the 2013 shooting death of Sandy Springs resident Takilam Terrell, 34, at Milo’s Bar.
A Cobb jury in March found Hampton guilty of malice murder, felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of use of a firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of crime in connection to the case. He was acquitted of a second count of aggravated assault involving a bottle.
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The two were strangers, but both were at Milo’s Bar, at 11 Garrison Road in Marietta, in the early morning hours of April 7, 2013.
According to investigators, Terrell was arguing with his girlfriend and as a security guard was quelling that disturbance, Hampton’s cousin, Joseph Ricky Hampton, escalated it. That’s when Dennis Hampton inserted himself in the situation, pulled out a .9mm handgun and fired a shot that hit Terrell, Reynolds’ office said.
“He brought a gun to a fistfight,” Deputy Chief ADA Jesse Evans told jurors. “Dennis Hampton executed Takilam Terrell for no reason.”
During a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, members of both families gave emotional testimony, one side asking for severe punishment and the other side seeking leniency. The defendant also addressed the court and maintained his innocence.
“While the defense may ask for mercy today, the defendant extended none on April 7, 2013,” Evans argued.
Cobb Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram sentenced Hampton as a recidivist to life in prison without parole, plus 15 years consecutive. Hampton has two prior felony convictions.
Atlanta attorney W. Carter Clayton represented the defendant, who had been held without bond since his arrest two days after the killing. Marietta police investigated the case.
Charges are still pending against Joseph Ricky Hampton and his wife, Trina Lesley Chatman, in Terrell’s death, the district attorney’s office said.
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