Kevin Matthews

Kevin Matthews, 35, who lived with mental illness and was recovering from a broken arm, was shot nine times and killed by Dearborn, Michigan Police Officer Christopher Hampton on December 23, 2015, after being accused of stealing an energy drink from a gas station. Hampton chased Matthews on foot from Dearborn into a Detroit backyard, where police say the two became engaged in a physical struggle that ended with Matthews standing over the officer and pulling an ammunition magazine from his belt; Hampton, on his back, fired nine shots, killing him. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined to charge Hampton roughly a year later, citing self-defense. Forensic experts hired by Matthews's family found two bullets beneath his body, which they said indicated Hampton had been firing downward rather than from his back as he described. The City of Dearborn settled the family's federal lawsuit for $1.25 million in 2021. No one has ever been charged in Matthews's death.

Detroit, MI · Wayne County

• 2015: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The gas station theft allegation, the foot chase, and the shooting, per Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's December 2016 charging decision and subsequent federal civil rights litigation records.
• Officer Christopher Hampton recognized Matthews from prior encounters and pursued him on foot after being told he had been involved in a theft and altercation at a gas station earlier that day; Matthews fled and climbed a fence into a residential backyard on Whitcomb Street.
• Police said Matthews and Hampton engaged in an intense physical struggle that continued from the yard into the rear of a house, ending when Matthews, standing over Hampton, pulled the ammunition magazine from the officer's duty belt.
• Hampton, on his back at that point, fired nine shots, killing Matthews; toxicology found hydrocodone in his system but no other drugs or alcohol.
• Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced roughly a year after the shooting, in December 2016, that she would not charge Hampton, stating the case could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt under Michigan's self-defense laws.
• Forensic experts hired by Matthews's family, who was shorter and 75 pounds lighter than Hampton, found two bullets underneath Matthews's body, which they said indicated Hampton had been shooting downward at Matthews rather than firing upward from his back as the officer described.
• No body camera or dash camera footage existed of the encounter; the family's attorney, Milt Greenman, said publicly that footage would very likely have led to Hampton's prosecution had it existed.
• The Matthews family filed a $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force; the City of Dearborn settled the case for $1.25 million in 2021, by which point Officer Hampton had died.

• Whether Hampton fired from his back during a genuine struggle for his weapon, as he described, or was shooting downward at Matthews, as forensic evidence of bullets found beneath the body suggested to the family's hired experts, was never resolved at any criminal trial, since the prosecutor declined to bring charges.
• Whether Matthews in fact posed the threat described in the officer's account, given his documented mental illness, recent broken arm, and considerably smaller size relative to Hampton, was never independently tested in court.
• The full circumstances of Officer Hampton's death, referenced by the family's attorney as a factor in how the civil case was ultimately resolved, have not been made public in the sources reviewed for this summary.

• Arab American News — “Dearborn agrees to $1.25M settlement in death of Black man”
• Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK) — “Prosecutor: 'insufficient evidence' to convict Dearborn officer in shooting of Kevin Matthews”
• WXYZ-TV Detroit — “No charges for Dearborn cops in deadly shootings”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs