Trial Begins For Man Who Allegedly Shot Demitri Hampton In Flanders Home Invasion: DA

FLANDERS, NY — For years, the family of Demitri Hampton has been demanding justice: And now, the trial of a 32-year-old Mastic Beach man who allegedly shot and killed Hampton during a 2013 home invasion, is set to begin Tuesday in Riverhead, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Messiah Booker allegedly shot Hampton, 21, to death during a burglary of the victim’s home on Priscilla Avenue on January 27, 2013, Spota said.

Booker is charged with second degree murder and first degree burglary, as are co-defendants Michael Parrish of Coram, Danielle Hall of Calverton, and Corry Wallace of Riverhead, Spota said.

State Supreme Court Justice John Collins will preside at trial, which is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

January marked four years since Demitri Hampton, 21, was gunned down in his Flanders home.

And for his family, the unspeakable loss resonates still, the grief and sadness a reality they live with every minute, every day of their lives.

“We really miss him,” Hampton’s sister Jennifer Nicole Davis told Patch in 2016. “We are still mourning the loss of him. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about him.”

On Jan. 27, 2013, police responded to 200 Priscilla Avenue in Flanders after a 911 caller reported that armed men had broken into the home and shot the young man, a Riverhead High School graduate, according to Suffolk County Police.

When police arrived, they found Hampton with a gunshot wound to his chest, according to police. Hampton was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“They took my little brother for no reason,” Davis said, in 2013. “They took my little baby from me.”

The past months have been especially difficult, after three were charged in her brother’s murder, Davis said.

In October, Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives arrested Michael Parrish, 26, of Coram, Danielle Hall, 39, of Calverton, and Corry Wallace, 40, of Riverhead, police said.

All three were charged with second degree murder, according to police.

“This year is very hard for us since we got the news of the arrests,” Davis said in 2016.

But in the dark days since his death, Hampton’s family has chosen to focus not on the heartbreak, but, instead, on his beautiful life and spirit, hosting fundraisers to benefit a scholarship fund in his memory.

“Demitri was a student at Suffolk County Community College. He was very motivated to let kids know if he could do it, everyone else could, too. He wanted to spread awareness about getting into college,” his sister said. Her brother loved sports, especially football and basketball.

Despite his dreams for a bright future, Hampton’s life ended on a bitterly cold night when he died at the hands of the gunmen who burst into the Flanders residence. “Everything got cut short,” Davis said. “We wanted to keep his dreams alive.”

Davis’ heart breaks with memories as she longs to hear her baby brother’s voice just one more time.

“I just really miss my brother. He was a beautiful young man with a lot of love and joy in his heart. He loved his family and his friends and he will forever be our hero. Demitri will forever live on in all of us. I miss his laugh and his smile.”

Describing him after his death, Davis remembered the young man loved by so many. “He was a character,” she said. “He made everyone laugh. He just always wanted to laugh and joke and play. He was a good kid. He was a goofball.”

Taking care of him when he was younger, Davis said she made sure he was ready for school each day.

“We used to play with little toy cars,” she said; Davis also remembered laughter-filled holidays spent singing karaoke with her brother.

Hampton, she said, adored his family, including his older brother Jamal and little cousin Tisha.

The future, Davis said, was irrevocably altered when her brother died — their lives were changed forever.

“I have a son and he won’t ever get to play with his uncle,” she said.

Her baby brother, Davis said, “had a lot of people that loved him. “They took away a good kid. It will never be the same.”

His family, Davis said, wants to keep the flame of her brother’s memory burning bright — and the memories of his life alive. “I don’t want Demitri to be a victim,” she said. “I want to keep his legacy alive — he was a hero.”

Photos of Demitri Hampton courtesy of his family.