A 22-year-old woman is facing a murder charge for allegedly killing another woman during an argument over door etiquette at a Dallas shopping center earlier this week.
Keona Hampton is accused of fatally shooting 41-year-old Cecilia Simpson early Tuesday afternoon at the Wheatland Towne Crossing shopping center.
Officers responded to the area shortly after 1 p.m. and determined that a female victim, later identified as Simpson, had been shot multiple times, a Dallas police spokesperson said Wednesday in a news release. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
The suspect, identified as Hampton, left the scene before police arrived, but she was later arrested and charged with murder, officials said.
Cellphone video of the incident appears to show the two women getting into an argument before gunshots can be heard, according to local ABC affiliate WFAA.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by multiple local outlets, the dispute began after Simpson held the door open for Hampton as the two were leaving a Five Below store.
Simpson reportedly became upset at Hampton for not saying “thank you” for the gesture — a move that sparked the rapidly escalating confrontation.
Simpson and her 20-year-old daughter then drove to a PetSmart store in the same shopping center and told an employee that Hampton had been following them, Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
After the women got confrontational inside the store, the three were asked to leave. Once outside in the PetSmart parking lot, the argument intensified further.
Simpson and her daughter got into their vehicle when Hampton allegedly threw a drink bottle at them, according to an affidavit. That sparked a physical fight, which ended in the fatal shooting.
Hampton allegedly shot Simpson three times with a handgun, then fled the scene in a black Ford 500, which was captured on surveillance video. Police tracked her vehicle down and arrested her just before 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
When speaking with investigators, Hampton reportedly admitted to fighting with the victim, throwing a bottle at her and ultimately shooting at her, claiming she did so because she was “trying to get [Simpson] away from her.”
She was booked into the Dallas County Jail. A bond had not yet been set as of Thursday afternoon, according to online court records.
