Former Oklahoma University football player Du’Vonta Lampkin was fatally shot in his Dallas Airbnb on May 5, according to People. Authorities arrived and discovered the 25-year-old with a single gunshot wound. He died at the scene, Dallas Morning News reports.
Police are now investigating his death as a murder, People reports.
Lampkin’s friend was renting him the Airbnb while he waited to move into his new apartment. According to Dallas Morning News, he was scheduled to check out on Friday. The athlete’s friends went to the Airbnb to check on Lampkin when they discovered his backpack, cellphone and wallet were missing.
The 25-year-old had entered the NFL draft in 2018. According to Sports Illustrated, he signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent. Lampkin, however, didn’t play in any regular-season games while with the Titans, and after playing for the Massachusetts Pirates in the indoor arena league in 2019, he decided to move on from football.
He later moved to Dallas and had reached out to his cousin Kerry Lampkin who works in real estate to show him the ropes and help him start the next phase of his career.
“He was excited about real estate and I think would’ve [been] successful because anything he puts his mind to, he will conquer it,” Kerry said, People reports.
Kerry told FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth that he “couldn’t stop crying the other day beacuse [all] I was thinking about was all the memories of him growing up.”
Oklahoma Univeristy took to Twitter to share their condolences and praise Lampkin.
“Du’Vonta was full of life and spirit, was a supportive teammate and a joy to be around,” they wrote. “Our sincerest thoughts, prayers and sympathies are with his family and loved ones.”
