WSFA News (Montgomery, Alabama)
A Jasper teenager accused of killing two police officers and a police dispatcher at the Fayette Police station told investigators he shot the men after - quote - “freaking out” - over his arrest and compared the slayings to a video game.
According to court testimony, 19 year old Devin Thompson allegedly told investigators, “Life is like a video game - you’ve got to die sometime.”
The murders occurred in June 2003. An ABI agent testified about Thompson’s statement during a hearing Wednesday in Fayette County Circuit Court. A judge denied a request by Thompson’s attorney to throw out statements the teenager made after the killings of Fayette Police Officers James Crump and Arnold Strickland and dispatcher Ace Mealer.
Thompson is accused of grabbing Crump’s gun and shooting the men after he was arrested for suspicion of driving a stolen car. He was captured a few hours after the slayings in Lowndes County, Mississippi, driving a stolen police car.
Thompson’s trial is scheduled to begin January 18th in Florence, where it was moved because of pretrial publicity in Fayette. The judge also ordered attorneys and witnesses not to discuss the case in public. If convicted, Thompson could be sentenced to death.