Overview of Jerome Hampton
"Jerome "Man Man" Hampton was murdered in a vehicle with Renetta Yemika Lowe, aka "Magnolia Shorty". He was only 25 years old at the time of his death.
On Monday, 12/20/2010, shortly before 12:30 PM, Renetta was in her white Chevy Malibu with Jerome Hampton, aka Man Man. She was getting ready to travel to Miami, Florida, to perform at a bounce-style festival, but needed to stop at her apartment first to pick up something. As they were leaving out the apartment complex, they had to slow down by the speed bumps, and unbeknownst to them, 5 men inside a white Ford Crown Victoria were waiting for them. One of the men jumped out of the vehicle and began shooting, which caused Renetta, who was driving, to crash into a fence located in the 6300 block of Bridgehampton Drive in New Orleans. Then, four of the occupants jumped out of the vehicle and began firing at Renetta’s car. One of the men stood on top of the vehicle, firing directly through the sunroof to ensure everyone inside was dead. Then they fled the scene.
After authorities arrived, they found both Renetta and Jerome had been shot multiple times in the head and body, and both were pronounced dead at the scene. Renetta was said to have been shot over 25 times.
Due to the extreme brutality in the case, authorities brought in the New Orleans FBI Gang Task Force to take over. Rumors spread that "Man Man" was a wanted man. It was payback for a killing that "Man Man" did back in 2005.
It wasn’t until August 2014 the grand jury indicted four suspected gang members from the 39er’s gang in the deaths of Renetta Lowe and Jerome Hampton.
Gregory “Rabbit” Stewart, another member of the 39’ers, became one of the FBI’s most important confidential informants. He took to the witness stand to help send as many members of his gang to the penitentiary as possible. Gregory "Rabbit" Stewart testified on the witness stand how he, McCoy “Rat” Walker, Terrioues “T-Red” Owney, Tyrone "T-Bone" Knockum, and Rico "Freaky" Jackson shot up the car killing Renetta and Jerome.
On 02/22/2017, a jury found ten men accused of being members of the “39ers” gang guilty of offenses. At least seven of the men were convicted of conspiracy to use weapons to further drug trafficking and violent crimes.
McCoy “Rat” Walker and Terrioues “T-Red” Owney, two of the defendants, were found guilty of the murders. Seven years after the murders, Walker and Owens were given life sentences imposed upon them by a U.S. District Judge.