Daniel Hamilton was sixteen when he murdered his stepfather. According to court documents Daniel Hamilton walked up behind his stepfather and would shoot him six times in the head. For some reason after he was arrested for the murder he would be let out on bond and when his relatives would later revoke his bond due to personal safety, Daniel Hamilton plotted with another inmate to murder them as well. This teen killer would be convicted and sentenced to life in prison
Daniel Hamilton Other News
A man who was 16 when first accused of shooting his stepfather to death in their Covington home was found guilty of second-degree murder on Friday, said Warren Montgomery, District Attorney for Louisiana’s 22nd Judicial.
Daniel Hamilton, now 19, was also found guilty on two counts of solicitation for murder, after plotting to have his aunt and uncle killed in 2016 after they pushed to have his bond revoked, sending him back to prison.
The St. Tammany Parish jury assigned to Hamilton’s case deliberated for about an hour and a half Friday before finding the man guilty of the solicitation charges and for slaying his stepfather, James “Kenny” Hamilton on March 4, 2016.
According to prosecutors, Daniel Hamilton shot James six times in the back of his head with a .22-caliber gun after James had refused to let him borrow his truck.
James was in their family room eating dinner when he was shot from behind and killed, prosecutors said.
“You’re dealing with a cold-blooded killer,” Assistant District Attorney Angad Ghai said. “That’s not what I’m saying. That’s what the evidence shows.”
After killing his stepfather, Daniel Hamilton took his truck and debit card and met friends at a pizza parlor in Abita Springs, after failing to use the debit card at a Wal-Mart because he didn’t know the pin, prosecutors said.
Daniel Hamilton spent the next two days drinking with friends at a hunting camp, then returned to his home to take a PlayStation gaming system out to sell at a GameStop store with friends.
In that process, he walked past his father’s body, “casually, comfortably, with his friends outside,” Ghai said.
James’ body was not discovered until three days later, after family members checked on him when he didn’t show up to work that Monday.
After the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office’s investigation into the death opened, detectives found the .22-caliber gun Daniel used to kill his stepfather at the hunting camp where he had been that weekend.
Daniel Hamilton was arrested and booked in connection to the murder but posted bond. James’ brother and sister-in-law, however, requested his bond be revoked and he was sent back to prison later that year, officials said.
Once he was back in jail, evidence found that Daniel Hamilton had plotted with his girlfriend and another inmate to have his aunt and uncle killed for the request.
He also told an inmate that his only regret was that he did not look James in the face when he killed him, prosecutors said.
Daniel Hamilton More News
A state court judge sentenced an Abita Springs-area teenager to life in prison Monday (May 20) for shooting his stepfather to death as the man ate his evening meal in 2016.
A jury in March convicted Daniel T. Hamilton, 19, of second-degree murder in the death of James “Kenny” Hamilton, 51.
Judge Alan Zaunbrecher ordered the sentence to be served with the possibility of parole, based on new sentencing guidelines for offenders who were juveniles at the time of the crime, District Attorney Warren Montgomery’s office said in a news release. Daniel Hamilton was 16 at the time of the crime.
“This was a heinous crime that was especially shocking because of the defendant’s age and relationship to the victim,” Montgomery said. “I am proud that my assistant district attorneys obtained justice on behalf of the victim’s family members. I hope they are now able to close this painful chapter of their lives.”
Zaunbrecher also sentenced Hamilton to 20 years in prison for each of two counts of solicitation for murder for planning to have the victim’s brother and sister-in-law killed. Hamilton was angry at the couple at the time because they had requested a revocation of his pre-trial bond after he was found in possession of a firearm in another parish, the DA’s office said.
The judge ordered one of the 20-year sentences to be served consecutive to the murder sentence; the other 20-year-sentence is to be served at the same time that Hamilton is serving the sentence for murder.
Zaunbrecher acknowledged receiving several letters, including two from the murder solicitation victims, but they did not speak in court Monday. Hamilton also chose not to speak.
Abita Springs-area teen convicted of murdering stepfather in 2016
Sheriff’s deputies went to the Lenel Road home Daniel and James Hamilton shared on March 7, 2016, after James Hamilton failed to show up for work and a relative found his body, authorities said.
The elder Hamilton had been shot multiple times in the back of the head with a .22-caliber gun three days earlier as he sat in a chair in the family room and finished his evening meal.
Daniel Hamilton surrendered two days after the body was found
After the killing, Daniel Hamilton spent two days drinking and partying with friends at a hunting camp, authorities have said.
During trial, prosecutors presented text messages showing that Hamilton had refused his stepson’s request to borrow his truck the week before the killing
https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_ca346f37-113c-5ddd-9dbc-ee7423b134d5.html
