On the morning of February 16, 1997, 25-year-old Steve Hampton was preparing for the day's business at the Captain D's restaurant he managed on Lebanon Road in Nashville, Tennessee. Working alongside him was a 16-year-old employee, Sarah Jackson. The morning took a horrific turn when a man, feigning interest in a job application, gained entry to the restaurant before it opened.
This man was Paul Dennis Reid, a then-unknown serial killer who would later be dubbed 'The Fast Food Killer'.
Once inside, Reid brandished a gun and forced Hampton and Jackson into the restaurant's cooler. There, he compelled them to lie face down on the floor before shooting them both execution-style. Hampton was shot twice in the back of the head and once in the back, while Jackson was shot four times in the head and once in the back. After the murders, Reid stole money from the cash register, including a significant amount of coins, which he used just two days later as a down payment on a car. Hampton's wallet was also taken. The bodies of Hampton and Jackson were discovered later that morning after another employee could not get into the locked restaurant.
The investigation into the double homicide initially yielded few clues at the crime scene itself, with shoe prints being the primary evidence left behind. A breakthrough came when Steve Hampton's driver's license and a video rental card were found in the median of Ellington Parkway. Critically, Reid's fingerprints were found on these items. This evidence, along with his connection to other violent restaurant robberies, led to his identification as the prime suspect. Paul Dennis Reid was apprehended on June 25, 1997.
Reid, who had a prior criminal record and was on parole at the time of the murders, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Steve Hampton and Sarah Jackson. His trial for the Captain D's murders was one of three he faced for a string of similar crimes that terrorized the Nashville and Clarksville areas. The evidence against him was substantial, including the fingerprint evidence and the discovery of blood from other victims on his shoes in a separate case. Reid was convicted of the murders and ultimately sentenced to death. He remained on death row until he died in a Nashville hospital on November 1, 2013. Steve Hampton was a father of three children.
