Authorities revealed on Tuesday that two people were arrested on July 8 in connection with the death of a former University of Oklahoma football player in downtown Dallas.
Antwan Franklin and Erick Garcia each face a capital murder charge in connection with the death of Du’Vonta Lampkin.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, officers responded to a call for a welfare check at an apartment in the 500 block of South Ervay Street on May 5. Upon arrival at the scene, officers found Lampkin with a single gunshot wound to his chest. He had been dead almost a full day before his body was found.
Lampkin’s cell phone, wallet, and designer backpack were missing when authorities found him.
Lampkin played as a defensive tackle in 15 games for the Oklahoma Sooners from 2015 to 2017. In 2018, he signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent. According to his family, Lampkin had recently relocated to Dallas and was preparing to start a career in real estate.
Investigators say that the apartment where he lived was a short-term rental where he lived temporarily, pending his apartment becoming ready. He was supposed to move into his new apartment the day after he was killed.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Franklin, 22, was Lampkin’s friend, and the former had allegedly set up the fatal robbery of the sportsman with whom he hung out the morning of the killing.
The affidavit states that Lampkin and Franklin were captured together on surveillance camera, parked in front of the apartment, at about 1:40 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, Franklin can reportedly be seen secretly signaling Garcia, 24, and another unidentified suspect to “move forward” or “come on” while Lampkin was in the car and would not be able to see them.
Garcia and the third, unnamed suspect reportedly went inside the apartment building, located the unit in which Lampkin lived, and then hid in a stairwell.
After getting out of the car, Franklin walked away from the complex, while Lampkin entered his building. When Lampkin got off the elevator on the fifth floor, Garcia and the third suspect ran up behind him, according to the affidavit.
The footage reportedly showed Garcia running back to the stairwell one minute later with Lampkin’s backpack. Police said Lampkin’s backpack is unique and distinctly colored and that it contained money.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, police released the surveillance video that captured the two suspects, asking the public to help identify them.
Later, detectives obtained records of several Instagram messages between Franklin and Garcia while Franklin spent time with Lampkin. Authorities allege that Franklin told Garcia that he needed Garcia to rob him and Lampkin. He also allegedly told Garcia that Lampkin had a lot of money on him and in his room, and their intended victim was “intoxicated and unconscious.”
Investigators also claim that Franklin told Garcia to recruit a second person and informed him that Lampkin did not have a gun.
At about 2 a.m. on the morning of the incident, Garcia reportedly texted Franklin to tell him that he was waiting for Lampkin in the stairwell. Franklin then responded, telling him to not “do it” until Lampkin was at the door.
Police have not announced a third arrest in connection to the killing. It is unclear whether police have identified the third suspect in the video.
Franklin and Garcia were booked into the Dallas County jail, where they both face a charge of capital murder. Franklin’s bail is set at $500,000, while Garcia’s bail is set at $750,000. It is unclear whether they have attorneys.
