From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
Two years after Paighton Houston’s disappearance and death, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed on Dec. 17, 2021.
The suit was filed by Attorney Scott Hughes on behalf of Houston’s mother, Charlaine Houston, and family. The lawsuit names as defendants Fredrick Hampton, who is charged with corpse abuse, a Class C felony, in Houston’s death, as well as Tin Roof Acquisition Company and the city of Birmingham.
The Tin Roof was required to operate in accordance with Birmingham Ordinance Section 12-10-52 which states, “Interior security personnel required at certain times; security camera systems required; premises to remain clean and free of trash and debris.”
The suit states that if “the family and/or law enforcement been able to obtain video footage from the time Paighton Houston was at The Tin Roof, her life might have been saved.”
“We have evidence that the victim died the next day at a house on McClain Street, in Brighton,” said Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief David Agee in an earlier press conference. “We have evidence that after the victim died, her body was disposed of by Frederick Hampton, in a criminal manner.”
The suit states that while both Houston and Hampton were in a “visibly and apparently intoxicated state…Hampton proximately caused the death of Paighton Houston by providing and or/administering a lethal dose of morphine and methamphetamine,’’ to Houston.
The Trussville native was last seen alive at the Tin Roof in Birmingham, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, according to police. Houston’s body was recovered from a shallow grave in Hueytown, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020.
The manner of death was determined to be accidental. It should be noted that Hampton is not [criminally] charged with the death of Houston.
