News

Kalamazoo man sentenced for 2005 sexual assault of 14-year-old
— Michael Arney, wkzo.com, Feb 10, 2025

"A 39-year-old Kalamazoo man will spend between 12 and 50 years in prison after being convicted of two charges of first degree criminal sexual conduct for assaulting a minor in 2005. Attorney General Dana Nessel says the victim was 14 at the time and reported the assault by a then-unknown man immediately. Shawn Robinson Hopkins was identified in 2022, 17 years after the assault, thanks to DNA evidence. Nessel says she is hoping the sentence “will bring a sense of justice to the victim,” adding her courage to come forward and seek accountability for her abuser “is truly commendable.” She added she is thankful to the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative unit in pursuing justice for her and other cold case sexual assault survivors."

DPS Crime Laboratory Cracks 1996 Cold Case Murder
— dps.texas.gov, Jan 23, 2025

"Using modern evidence testing, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Crime Laboratory Division has now identified the man investigators believe is responsible for the decades-old cold case murder of 86-year-old Mary Moore Searight in Paris, Texas. On Dec. 12, 2024, nearly 30 years after her death, David Paul Cady Jr., 54, was indicted by a Lamar Co. grand jury. In 2021, Searight’s case was identified by the Texas Rangers as being eligible for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program which is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA). DOJ/BJA provides investigative funding for agencies across the United States to further unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides with the hope of bringing justice to victims and their families. "

Idaho State Police forensic report shows cold case solved with advancements in DNA methods
— CBS2 News Staff, Idahonews.com, Jan 16, 2025

"The Idaho State Police (ISP) released the annual Idaho State Police Forensic Services (ISPFS) IMPACT REPORT, highlighting how these laboratories advance Idaho's criminal justice system through forensic science, innovation and expertise. 498 lawfully owed DNA entries through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Program 427 sexual assault kits completed 61 nurses trained through the ISPFS Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program, with over 260 now trained. SAKI Program, 101 cold cases triaged, 15 cold cases opened"

Martinsburg man guilty of second-degree sexual assault in 1998 cold case
— Toni Milbourne, tmilbourne@journal-news.net, Dec 29, 2024

"Kenneth Lloyd Rickard, Sr., 62, of Martinsburg, was found guilty Dec. 19 of one count of the felony offense of second-degree sexual assault as well as one count of felony burglary. Both counts are a result of a home invasion sexual assault that occurred Sept. 6, 1998. The three-day trial I the courtroom of Judge Michael D. Lorensen, was prosecuted by Berkeley County Prosecutor-elect Joseph Kinser and Assistant Prosecutor Raymond E. Boyce, Jr."

Jury convicts Albuquerque man in 30-year-old cold case rape of jogger in the Bosque
— Fallon Fischer, KRQE.com, Dec 25, 2024

On November 26, 1994, a woman was jogging in the Bosque when she was dragged into a secluded area where Contreras beat, kicked and brutally raped the victim. DNA linked him to the crime. Our SAKI Unit, also known as Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit prosecuted this case. The victim has since passed away. Her family was in the courtroom during this trial. Prosecutors hope this brings some sort of peace and closure to the family and the trauma that this caused them for the last 30 years. Contreras is facing up to 72 years in the Department of Corrections. "It doesn't matter how old the case is - we will be relentless in our pursuit of Justice. I'm very proud of the prosecutors who never give up." -- Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman.

Cold case solved: Plano police arrest man for 1990s child sex assualts
— Madi Marks, Fox4News, Dec 20, 2024

"Plano police arrested a 64-year-old man in Oklahoma on Dec. 19, charging him with the sexual assault of two young boys in separate incidents in North Texas during the 1990s. Nicholas Ray Carney was arrested in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on charges of abduction and aggravated sexual assault of a child connected to incidents in 1991 and 1999."

Albuquerque man pleads guilty to rape of 10-year-old in 1992
— Fallon Fischer, KRQE.com, Dec 11, 2024

"An Albuquerque man accused of raping a 10-year-old girl over three decades ago pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual penetration in court on Friday. In 1992, Freddy Valenzuela took the victim at knifepoint from a gas station at Gibson and Broadway and raped her, according to police. The girl was eventually able to escape and ran back to her family, who called the police. DNA taken from a rape kit matched Valenzuela, linking him to the crime. The kit, however, was tested in 2020 as the rape kit backlog was finally being cleared, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office said. The victim in this case is no longer alive, but her family asked to move forward with the prosecution."

DNA testing leads to conviction of Kalamazoo man for 2005 sexual assault
— Ken Delaney, wtvbam.com, Nov 27, 2024

"A Kalamazoo man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, with the conviction coming 19 years after the assault. 39-year-old Shawn Darnell Robinson Hopkins was found guilty Tuesday in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court of two counts of first degree criminal sexual assault causing personal injury, and now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Hopkins was charged through the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which was established in 2017 to address previously untested sexual assault kits. "

Genealogy Links Suspect to 1986, 1992 Sexual Assaults of Children (Unsire if a SAKI funded success, but wanted to include it)
— forensicmag.com, Nov 7, 2024

"In hopes of finding new leads, Quezada worked with Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). They submitted more evidence to the Arizona DPS’s Crime Lab for additional analysis through the Maricopa County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. However, after two years—despite reinterviewing the victims, reexamining evidence, and chasing every possible lead—the case remained unsolved. That’s when detectives decided to go the genetic genealogy route. They got a hit, and finally the decades-long quest for answers ended with a name: David Roy Munt. In present time, detectives tracked Munt down to Longview, Texas—only about 30 miles from Henderson, where the second sexual assault occurred in 1992."

Man sentenced to life in prison for 1989 cold case murder in Dallas County
— David Goins, NBCDFW.com, Nov 7, 2024

"A Dallas County jury sentenced a man to life in prison without the chance of parole Thursday in a first-of-its-kind murder trial based on forensic genetic genealogy technology. David Rojas, 55, was charged with capital murder for the January 1989 sexual assault and killing of Mary Hague Kelly in her West Oak Cliff home."