David Rojas was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after forensic genetic genealogy linked him to a murder from 35 years ago.
It's the first case tried in Dallas County using that capability.
Mary Hague Kelly's sister, Anita Stinchcombe, is grateful for forensic advances and people who never gave up.
Through the years she continued checking with law enforcement about her sister's cold case.
"I had called to see how things were progressing, and they said they had gotten some new DNA something and I'm glad that it's come about," she said. "I'm grateful for the work that was done for the people who came forth and talked and questioned. I appreciate it."
Rojas, 55, was arrested in 2022 after Dallas County's Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences matched DNA from the crime scene to user-submitted genealogy-type databases, like ancestry.com or 23 and me.
FBI agents sent to S.W.I.F.S in Dallas for DNA analysis a beer bottle that Rojas had thrown in the trash outside a home in Del Rio, where he was under surveillance in 2022.
Kelly's purse, jewelry, antique phone and 1980 Chevy Monte Carlo were stolen, according to the 2022 arrest warrant affidavit.
The document also detailed how Kelly "was stuffed underneath her bed, naked from the waist down."
After Judge Lela Lawrence Mays sentenced Rojas, victims and family addressed him with personal statements.
One of the six male jurors stayed to listen.
He wept while hearing details from two female family members Rojas was charged with sexually assaulting when they were about 9 and 12 years old.
The juror, who asked to remain anonymous, said, for him, the DNA forensic genetic genealogy evidence left no question that Rojas committed all the crimes he was accused of.
The victims' words, though, strengthened his decision.
"Knowing God has all vengeance....but, I heard things that I didn't hear before," he said. "That just kind of confirmed it. At least I know that…well, I can sleep better, you know?"
Former Dallas County Chief Medical Examiner Jeffrey Barnard helped match the DNA.
"The cause of death was — I had no question about," he said. "But in terms of who did it...once our DNA got to where you actually can do database and [Combined DNA Index System] database, I went back through the logbooks trying to find cases that maybe we could solve and we solved a bunch."
Barnard testified in the trial this week.
Kelly, 78, weighed about 80 pounds and had been strangled and raped in her Oak Cliff home in 1989.
His family had lived next door to Kelly when she was killed in 1989.
One of Rojas's female family member's he was charged with sexually abusing as a child said aloud in her victim's statement that she's glad jurors found him guilty.
"What you did to me and my sister, especially my mom...what you did to women and children — you're a sick person," she said. "That'll be the last time you lay your hands on a woman ever again in your life."
Got a tip? Email Marina Trahan Martinez at mmartinez@kera.org. You can follow Marina at @HisGirlHildy.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
