Chestene Cummins
Facts of the Crime:
On May 21, 1987, the victim, Chestene Cummins, was at home preparing to leave on a trip to California with her boyfriend. She had taken the day off work to run errands and pack.
McCray somehow gained access to her apartment, most likely while in the neighborhood committing burglaries. When the victim's boyfriend arrived home from work, he found her body laying in the bedroom. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled to death. The physical evidence demonstrated that the victim had put up a significant struggle during the assault. Law enforcement officers were unable to solve the crime at the time, but they preserved in evidence a sexual assault swab test kit and the cord used to strangle the victim.
In 2000, a Phoenix Police Department cold case detective submitted the evidence for DNA analysis at the Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Lab. The DPS lab technicians were able to identify McCray from semen through a CODIS hit. McCray's DNA profile had been entered into the CODIS database from a previous conviction for sexual assault on another young woman subsequent to the murder. McCray's DNA was also confirmed on the cord used to strangle the victim.
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