Justice is Served: DNA Helps Solve a Two-Decade-Old Cold Case in a Small Texas County

After 20 years, the people of Mills County, Texas can rest easy knowing that a person hiding out for decades was put in jail for his crimes.

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On August 13, 2005, a person broke into a home in Mills County.   The suspect took a knife from the kitchen and proceeded into the bedroom of a woman who was sound asleep.  He took the stolen kitchen knife held it to this woman's throat and attempted to assault her sexually.  Luckily, the woman was able to get the knife away from the suspect, but during the scuffle, both the victim and the suspect were cut.  While fleeing, the suspect left a drop of his blood.

Sheriffs were able to recover the blood left by the suspect and the Texas DPS Crime Lab was able to get a DNA profile from the drop of blood left at the crime scene.

Unfortunately, the suspect was still unknown, and unable to match the DNA to the person who committed the crime.  The DNA information was placed into CODIS, where it remained.

What is CODIS?

The Bureau of Justice Statistics defines CODIS as,

CODIS is an acronym for Combined DNA Index System, which is a computer software program that operates local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons.

Unfortunately, the identity of the attacker escaped the Sheriff's office.

However, things changed in 2021, thanks to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a federal grant through the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, that allows for more advanced testing of DNA.

The DNA from the suspect on file was checked against millions of profiles on CODIS for a familial DNA match.  The check found that the DNA was tied to a paternal relative in the system.

The Mills County Sheriffs took the information they received and found a suspect.

Jessie Rodriguez

Rodriguez was arrested and confessed to the crime. On December 13, 2023, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the Attempted Aggravated Sexual Assault of an Adult and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.  This was the maximum punishment for this offense.