4 males have been arrested and charged within the 1982 rape and homicide of 16-year-old Roxanne Sharp — a case that went chilly for greater than 4 many years earlier than DNA testing and a true-crime podcast cracked it open.
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Sharp’s physique was found on Feb. 12, 1982, dumped close to the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds in Covington, Louisiana. She had been raped and strangled. Investigators had little bodily proof to work with, and for 43 years, her killers walked free.
In 2023, detectives with the Louisiana State Police’s Covington discipline workplace reinterviewed witnesses and potential suspects, performed an in depth assessment of the case file, gathered extra proof and resubmitted authentic proof for DNA evaluation.
Two years later, detectives with the LSP public affairs and chilly case unit partnered with native radio host Charles Dowdy of the Northshore Media Group to provide a podcast titled “Who Killed Roxanne?” The collection generated new info, leads and witness cooperation that had beforehand been unknown to investigators.
Arrests adopted this month. On April 21, Billy Williams Jr., 62, was taken into custody in Covington, and Darrell Dean Spell, 64, was arrested at his dwelling in Dayton, Ohio; Spell is awaiting extradition to Louisiana. The remaining two suspects, Perry Wayne Taylor, 64, and Carlos Cooper, 64, each of Covington, have been already incarcerated by the Louisiana Division of Corrections on unrelated costs and made contact with detectives on April 22. All 4 males are charged with aggravated rape and second-degree homicide.
Covington Police Chief Michael Ferrell credited the persistence of each his division and the Louisiana State Police for conserving the case alive.
“The decision of Roxanne Sharp’s case is a testomony to what occurs when devoted legislation enforcement officers refuse to let a sufferer be forgotten,” Ferrell stated. “Chilly circumstances don’t shut themselves. They shut as a result of individuals present up 12 months after 12 months and refuse to give up. That’s precisely what our businesses did, and in the present day, Roxanne and her household lastly have the justice they’ve waited so lengthy for.”
District Lawyer Collin Sims echoed that sentiment.
“This case is a strong instance of what persistence, collaboration, and developments in investigative expertise can accomplish,” Sims stated. “For greater than 4 many years, this sufferer and her household have waited for solutions. Immediately’s arrests replicate our unwavering dedication to pursue justice — irrespective of how a lot time has handed — and to carry these accountable totally accountable.”
