Also, coroner identifies victim of Aug. 6 motor vehicle accident
A Kokomo man is recovering in a Fort Wayne hospital after being disemboweled over the weekend. Derek Wheeler, 35, was attacked on the morning of Aug. 16 in western Howard County. His alleged attacker, James I. Hampton Jr., is currently in custody.
On Saturday morning at approximately 5:13 a.m., deputies from the Howard County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to 600 South, County Road 750 West, in reference to a stabbing. Upon arrival, deputies located Wheeler, who was suffering from a large laceration wound to his abdomen. He was transported to Community Howard Hospital and then air-lifted to Fort Wayne in critical condition.
Sheriff detectives were called to the scene to investigate. Through their efforts, the detectives identified the suspect from the incident. On Sunday, August 17, 2025, at 12:11 p.m., a search warrant was executed in the 300 block of Branded Boulevard. The suspect, James I. Hampton, age 54, of Kokomo, was taken into custody at 12:27 p.m. with the help of the Howard County Sheriff’s SWAT team.
Hampton was booked into the Howard County Jail on a charge of Attempted Murder, a Class 1 Felony. His case has not yet been scheduled for an initial hearing.
This is not the first time Hampton has faced charges involving serious violence. On July 2, 1990, Hampton was charged in Grant County with the murder of his father, James Hampton, Sr., who he beat to death with a blunt object. He was convicted of the crime on March 22, 1991, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Hampton appealed the verdict, but it was upheld by Indiana's First District Court of Appeals a year later on March 23, 1992. Undeterred, Hampton furthered his appeal in 1993, petitioning to be heard by the Indiana Supreme Court. The high court denied the petition in 1995.
In 2015, Hampton attempted to have his sentence modified, seeking to be placed in a community corrections program. That, too, was denied. He was released from prison in 2016, following the completion of his criminal sentence of 25 years under the state's two-for-one days of service contingency allowed for good behavior.
Once released, Hampton relocated to 304 Branded Blvd., in Kokomo, but couldn't stay out of trouble. He was charged on June 12, 2020, in Miami County on two felony counts of Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug (Ecstasy), along with misdemeanor Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury, Possession of Marijuana, Disorderly Conduct, and Possession of Paraphernalia; all misdemeanors.
Hampton was allowed to plead guilty to the Possession of Marijuana and Disorderly Conduct charges, while the remaining charges were dismissed as part of the agreement. He was sentenced on Jan. 5, 2022, to 180 days on each charge, which ran consecutively.
However, while awaiting that verdict, Hampton again ran afoul of the law. He was charged on Aug. 25, 2021, of misdemeanor OWI and Resisting Law Enforcement in Grant County. By plea agreement, he was sentenced to one year in the Grant County Jail on Oct. 26, 2022, on the OWI charge, with the resisting charge dismissed.
No sooner were those sentences completed, Hampton again found himself in hot water. He was charged in Marion, Ind., on March 5, 2023, with Resisting (fleeing) Law Enforcement, Intimidation, Battery, and Public Intoxication; all misdemeanors.
He was convicted on all four counts by Judge Michael Hotz and was sentenced to 90 days in the Grant County Jail, with all four sentences running concurrently.
Throughout these proceedings, Hampton also amassed a considerable number of infractions. He was fined for speeding in 2018 and 2020, Driving While Suspended in 2021 and 2024, and for speeding and having an open alcoholic beverage container in June 2025. The final charge is awaiting a bench trial in Miami County this December.
The Howard County Sheriff’s office was assisted at the initial scene by Community Howard Ambulance and Russiaville Ambulance. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Scott Waymire at scott.waymire@howardcountyin.gov or (765) 456-2020.
Coroner identifies victim in vehicle accident
On Wednesday August 6, 2025, at approximately 12:50 a.m., the Howard County Coroner was dispatched to Ind. 22 and County Road 700 West, in reference a decedent who had been involved in a motor vehicle accident. The decedent has been positively identified as Michael Edward Lee Hodges, a 43-year-old male from Bringhurst, Ind.
Identification was made through DNA analysis by the Indiana State Police Forensic Lab in Indianapolis. His family has been notified.
An autopsy was performed on Thursday August 7, 2025, by a forensic pathologist at the Howard County Coroner’s Office. The preliminary autopsy findings are consistent with multiple thermal and blunt force injuries. Final determination is pending forensic toxicology and lab results.
This case remains under investigation by the Howard County Sheriff’s Department as well as the Howard County Coroner’s Office.