An Alabama judge granted bond on Tuesday to the man charged with abuse of a corpse following the death and disappearance of Paighton Houston earlier this year.
Frederick Hampton, 50, has been held without bond since he was captured in Ohio on January 29 and subsequently extradited to Jefferson County, Alabama, Al.com reported. The judge granted the maximum allowable bond — $15,000 — ordered Hampton to wear an electronic monitoring device, and ordered him to remain at his home at all times.
The day after Hampton’s capture, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said that Houston died from an accidental morphine and methamphetamine overdose, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Houston was last seen alive on December 20. A coworker reportedly said she went to the Tin Roof bar in downtown Birmingham with Houston after work on the night she vanished. Later that night, Houston reportedly sent a text message to a friend indicating that she could be in trouble.
Houston was last seen alive on December 20. A coworker reportedly said she went to the Tin Roof bar in downtown Birmingham with Houston after work on the night she vanished.
“idk who im with so if I call please answer. I feel in trouble,” the text message said, according to Trussville Tribune. The co-worker did not see the message until several hours after it was sent.
Someone later contacted Houston’s family and said Houston was last seen leaving the bar at around 10:45 p.m. with “two heavy set black males.” Houston’s family then called 911 and relayed the information.
Investigators found Paighton’s body nine days after she vanished, in a “shallow hole” in the yard of a Hueytown residence off of Chapel Drive. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office District Attorney (Bessemer) Lynneice Washington told CBS 42 that the property belongs to Hampton’s relatives.
Prosecutors, investigators, and Houston’s family objected to Hampton’s bond, but the judge in the case said he was required by law to allow it, Al.com reported.. Hampton has not been charged in Houston’s death. Under Alabama law, abuse of a corpse is committed if a person knowingly treats a corpse in a way that would “outrage ordinary family sensibilities.”
Hampton, who is a convicted rapist and served 20 years in prison for the offense, has an additional $15,000 bond for failure to register as a sex offender. He was still behind bars early Wednesday evening, according to Jefferson County Jail records.
[Feature Photo: Paighton Houston/Handout]
