Jul 5, 2024 By Jon Andreassi 2 min read

A “pristine” cigarette butt left at the scene of an unsolved murder in Fayette County has led to police filing a homicide charge against a Merrittstown man.

Masontown police charged Frank Timothy Campbell Jr., 37, Wednesday for the murder of 35-year-old Leon Mickens Jr., of Masontown, on Aug. 15, 2011.

Mickens was shot in Masontown in the back and in the face and died the following day, on his 36th birthday.

Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said his office began taking a fresh look at the case after a conversation with Destiny Mickens, Leon Mickens’ daughter.

“Basically, she has been pushing this case for a very long time … I met with her, it was earlier this year, about how the case hadn’t gotten anywhere. I told her I would do everything that I could,” Aubele said Thursday.

Investigators began compiling as much evidence and documents related to the case as they could.

“We had a lot of trouble finding files. We still have certain items that we haven’t located,” Aubele said.

According to Aubele, a cigarette butt collected at the scene had not been crushed or damaged by the elements. He described it as “pristine.”

“It was within a couple inches to a foot to the initial blood splatter,” Aubele said.

Campbell has been a suspect in Mickens’ killing since the year the murder took place, according to Aubele. Investigators had the cigarette butt tested for DNA, and the results came back with a match to Campbell.

“It puts him right there,” Aubele said.

Campbell is currently serving a sentence for attempted homicide at SCI Somerset, according to Aubele. He will be transported to Fayette County to face the new charges.

Online court records indicate that Campbell also faces a felony charge of aggravated assault and misdemeanors of simple assault and reckless endangerment.

He has yet to be arraigned and a preliminary hearing has not been scheduled. Charging documents filed by Masontown police were not immediately available due to the holiday.