12-year-old Texas girl’s 1979 murder just solved, but the killer was executed in 2002

The chilly case slaying of a 12-year-old lady in Texas greater than 4 a long time in the past was solved after authorities used a sophisticated DNA software to establish her killer, authorities mentioned Monday.

Gerald Dwight Casey, who was executed in 2002 for an unrelated capital murder case, was linked to Lesia Michell Jackson’s 1979 sexual assault and murder with the assistance of a DNA approach generally known as “M-Vac,” the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned in a press release.

The know-how, originally developed to identify food contamination but now used to gather DNA from porous and different troublesome surfaces, was used to course of samples found on Lesia’s clothes, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

The sheriff’s workplace, north of Houston in one among Texas’ most sprawling counties, mentioned it was the oldest chilly case the division has solved.

Lesia disappeared on Sept. 7 after swimming on the lake in her subdivision with buddies and family members. Her glasses had been discovered the subsequent day, and an oilfield employee discovered her physique close to a pipeline on Sept. 13, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

An post-mortem discovered that she had been sexually assaulted, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

The case remained chilly till final yr, when the brand new DNA approach was used to acquire samples from Lesia’s clothes, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

A DNA profile was recognized by state forensics consultants and uploaded to a DNA database, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

After the profile was recognized as belonging to Casey, investigators in contrast the DNA obtained from Lesia’s clothes with a blood pattern taken from Casey earlier than his execution.

The comparability confirmed Casey as Lesia’s killer, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.

Casey was executed by injection on April 18, 2002, for a 1989 theft and homicide.