CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A man who pled guilty to killing his girlfriend and holding a Clay County couple hostage in 2022 was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday.
Aubrey Lumpkin took the stand to ask the jury for mercy. Initially, the State Attorney’s Office was seeking 50 years behind bars.
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On April 1, Lumpkin pled guilty to manslaughter, tampering with evidence, armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
NOTE: The article below contains details some might find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.
According to Lumpkin’s arrest report, he called 911 on April 11, 2022, and told the dispatcher he “was a piece of s***” and had done “horrible things” and wanted to turn himself in. He told the dispatcher where he was and that there were two elderly people with him in need of medical attention.
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When deputies arrived, they found the couple bound with duct tape on their arms, legs and faces. They were extremely dehydrated, covered in feces, malnourished and suffering from infections and lesions from being bound for more than 48 hours, the report said.
Court and property records list a couple in their 70s as the owners of the home where Lumpkin was taken into custody.
The man and woman in the home were taken to Orange Park Medical Center where they were admitted for treatment.
Lumpkin told deputies he and another man broke into the home and forced the couple onto the floor. He said while they were screaming, he fired two rounds from a revolver over their heads to scare them. The woman later told deputies the attack began about 10:30 p.m. on April 9.
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Lumpkin told deputies that once the man and woman were bound with duct tape, he and the other intruder found the couple’s bank cards and forced them to share their PINs.
The men then moved the couple into their bathroom and took turns going to a local ATM to withdraw cash, Lumpkin said. They took approximately $3,000, Lumpkin told deputies, and then used the couple’s car to buy drugs.
Deputies said they found a silver revolver in the home, similar to one Lumpkin described using.
According to deputies, Lumpkin also told investigators “he had murdered someone.” At the time, it was unclear who he was talking about as both victims in the kidnapping survived the encounter.
Lumpkin also told them he had been involved with “burying someone on the property.”
According to court documents obtained by News4JAX, Lumpkin admitted to killing his girlfriend two years earlier and showed detectives where he’d buried her body — in the woods behind the same property where they had just rescued the two hostages.
A dayslong search in the area surrounding the home where the couple survived the hostage nightmare, turned up to be human remains.
In June 2022, Lumpkin was charged with manslaughter. A spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office confirmed the manslaughter charge against Lumpkin was directly connected to the discovery of human remains just days after his arrest.
