Suspect found in cold case murder

After more than 20 years a family is getting answers about their loved one who was murdered.

24-year-old Ophelia Preston was killed in 1994. She was raped and strangled to death and her body was left in the dumpster. Ophelia Preston was mute and deaf, and wasn't able to fend off, the accused killer, Melvin Lee Jones back in 1994.

"It's a great example of how the DNA databank could be very useful and solving some of these old cases."

Prosecutor Sara Lewis was able to file charges against Melvin Lee Jones after his DNA was already on file from another homicide. 

Sara Lewis, a Milwaukee County Prosecutor says, "It involved him sexually assaulting a woman in the context of a crack cocaine exchange and then killing her by manually strangling her."

During a random check his DNA was run through the database and it came up as a possible match in Preston's homicide case. Plus, Preston's homicide had a similar pattern to the other woman who was killed. He was swabbed again, and prosecutors say he even admitted to police that he was with Ms. Preston sometime before her death.

"This is a case that most probably would've never been solved had it been for his standard being included in the databank as he convicted offender."

Share this article: