On the evening of November 19, 2016, a tragic series of events unfolded, culminating in the death of 44-year-old Philip Todd Peny, a male resident of Littleton, Colorado. The incident, which at first appeared to be a car crash, was quickly discovered to be a homicide. Residents in a Lakewood neighborhood near West 9th Avenue and Allison Street reported hearing several gunshots around 7 p.m. When police arrived, they found a vehicle that had crashed through the front fence of a home. Inside the car was Philip Peny, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The subsequent investigation into Peny's death revealed a story of a drug deal gone fatally wrong. Detectives learned that Peny had arranged to sell marijuana to a man he had connected with through a Craigslist advertisement. The prospective buyer was identified as 22-year-old Toussaint Hampton. The meeting was set up, but Hampton had no intention of paying for the marijuana. Instead, he arrived at the location with his 23-year-old girlfriend, Kiantrenay Bell, and a sinister plan.
During the arranged meeting, Hampton shot Peny multiple times, stole the marijuana, and then fled the scene with Bell. The investigation quickly led authorities to Hampton, partly through the digital trail he left behind. Cell phone data connected him to the crime, and investigators discovered that in the aftermath of the shooting, Hampton had made incriminating internet searches, including for the phrase 'I shot a person' and for information about murder investigations. This crucial evidence helped solidify the case against him and his girlfriend.
Just three days after the murder, on November 22, 2016, both Toussaint Hampton and Kiantrenay Bell were located and arrested in Aurora, Colorado. Hampton was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and other related offenses. Bell faced charges that included possession of marijuana, being an accessory to a crime, and tampering with evidence. The legal process culminated in 2018 when Hampton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Kiantrenay Bell pleaded guilty to her charges and was sentenced to a prison term of six to sixteen years. Philip Peny was remembered by his loved ones as a caring son, brother, and uncle who had attended Mullen High School and the University of Colorado. A funeral mass was held in his memory at Our Lady of Fatima Church on November 28, 2016.
