Dallas

Dallas Police Release Video of Persons of Interest in Shooting Death of Former OU Player

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Two weeks after a former OU football player was found shot dead in a downtown Dallas apartment, police have released images of the men they believe are responsible.

Police said 25-year-old Du’Vonta Lampkin was found dead inside an apartment on Ervay Street at about 10 p.m. on May 5.

Du’Vonta Lampkin, when he played football for the University of Oklahoma.

He’d been renting it as an Airbnb from friends while waiting to move into a new apartment.

According to the police, those friends found Lampkin when he wasn’t responding to phone calls and called the police.

This week, Dallas police released a surveillance video showing two men, who police called persons of interest, getting off of an elevator.

Dallas PD
Surveillance video shows two men Dallas police identified as "persons of interest" in the death of Du’Vonta Lampkin.

It also shows Lampkin wearing a black and white designer backpack that police said was missing after his death. His cellphone and wallet were also gone.

“I looked at pieces of it, it's been kind of difficult for me,” said Lampkin’s mother Vanessa Lampkin. “Just thinking, you are on your way to take a life. To take someone's child. To take someone's friend. To take someone's future husband. To take someone who would have given you the shirt off of his back.”

Dallas PD
Du’Vonta Lampkin wearing a designer backpack police say was taken after he was killed.

Lampkin said her son had relocated to Dallas as he transitioned from a career as a professional athlete to one in real estate.

“He was doing the work, looking and trying to find himself,” she said.

She said the former Tennessee Titans and OU football player had a personality larger than life.

“He was adventurous. He was loyal. He was compassionate. He was a protector. He was courageous. He was bold.”

Vanessa Lampkin, Du'Vonta Lampkin's mother

Now as she prepares to lay him to rest, she’s urging those who know something about his death to come forward.

"Du’Vonta did not deserve to be taken from us so soon,” she said.

The family will hold a celebration of life near Houston on Saturday.

Lampkin said she plans to publish a book with writings her son left behind.

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