Criminal Law
California Police Solve a 1999 Murder With a Familial DNA Search
Investigators solved the 1999 murder of a 28-year-old woman through use of California’s familial DNA search program, authorities announced Thursday at a news conference punctuated by pushback from the woman’s family.
Richmond police said Jerry Lee Henderson killed Meekiah Wadley at her home in January 1999, but could not bring him to trial because he died of a suspected drug overdose 11 days after her death.
“I know it’s been a long 22 years since this heinous crime was committed, and justice doesn’t always come swiftly,” said Diana Becton, Contra Costa County’s district attorney, who was joined at Thursday’s news conference by state Attorney General Rob Bonta and members of Wadley’s grieving family.
