Man gets life in prison for 1989 North Texas murder – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

A Dallas County jury on Thursday sentenced a man to life in prison with no chance of parole in a first-of-its-kind murder trial based on forensic genetic genealogy technology.

David Rojas, 55, was charged with aggravated murder for the January 1989 sexual assault and killing of Mary Hague Kelly at her West Oak Cliff home.

According to prosecutors, Rojas lived next door at the time.

Kelly, 78 at the time of her murder, was described as a caring and loved grandmother.

Significant DNA evidence was collected and tested, but for decades there was no match until Rojas was identified as a possible suspect following tests at a private laboratory in 2022 that created a DNA family tree.

A DNA sample taken from a beer bottle by Rojas in Del Rio in June 2022 and seen discarded by FBI agents provided an exact match and led to his arrest.

It is the first time that forensic genetic genealogy technology has been used in a murder trial in Dallas County.

During closing arguments Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Leighton D'Antoni told jurors that they had been presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence consistent with Rojas.

“Twenty years of DNA testing all say the same thing,” D’Antoni said. “He (Rojas) is the only profile. DNA doesn’t lie.”

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