Man sentenced to life in prison for 1989 cold case murder in Dallas County

David Rojas, 55, was found guilty on Thursday by a Dallas County jury in first genetic genealogy DNA murder trial in Dallas County

A Dallas County jury sentenced a man to life in prison without the chance of parole Thursday in a first-of-its-kind murder trial based on forensic genetic genealogy technology.

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

Rojas was living next door at the time, according to prosecutors.

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

There was significant DNA evidence collected and tested, but no match for decades, until Rojas was identified as a possible suspect following testing from a private lab in 2022 that created a DNA family tree.

A DNA sample lifted from a beer bottle from trash Rojas was observed by FBI agents throwing away in Del Rio in June 2022 provided an exact match and his arrest.

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

During closing arguments Thursday, assistant district attorney Leighton D’Antoni told jurors they had been presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence that matches Rojas.

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

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