PHOENIX – A man recently arrested in connection with a sexual assault in a Phoenix alley last month has been linked by DNA to a 2024 homicide in the same location, authorities announced Tuesday.
Luis Tapia, 24, was taken into custody Saturday on suspicion of violently assaulting a woman in an alley near 46th and Oak streets, between McDowell and Thomas roads, on Aug. 14, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
He was booked into jail Sunday on multiple charges, including sexual assault, kidnapping and aggravated assault.
Detectives collected DNA samples from Tapia after he was arrested. Forensic scientists were able to match the sample to the sexual assault as well as an unsolved homicide from June 2024.
As a result, he will be charged in connection with the death of 64-year-old Margie New, police said.
What do we know about 2024 homicide case in Phoenix?
New died in a hospital on June 21, 2024, eight days after she was found unresponsive with a head injury in the same alley where the sexual assault occurred over a year later.
Investigators developed a DNA profile off biological evidence collected in the homicide case. At the time, it didn’t match any existing entries in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database of genetic evidence collected from offenders and crime scenes.
However, when a profile of DNA collected from the Phoenix sexual assault victim over a year later was put into CODIS, it matched the profile from the June 2024 homicide, police said.
Earlier this month, police held a press conference to discuss the August sexual assault case and urge anyone with information about a possible suspect to come forward.
Tips soon came in from the community implicating Tapia in the sexual assault. After detectives took him into custody over the weekend, he allegedly admitted to sexually and physically assaulting the woman.
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