44-year-old arrested on capital murder charge in North Texas cold case from 2008, police say
A 44-year-old has been arrested in connection with the 2008 murder of a North Texas man, police said.
Jerry Lee Gardner was arrested in Lufkin in East Texas on Oct. 4, Grand Prairie police said in an Oct. 16 news release. He faces a capital murder charge.
Gardner is accused of killing 45-year-old Raymond Hernandez in August 2008. Grand Prairie firefighters found Hernandez’s body when they responded to a blaze in the 2600 block of Channing Drive. An autopsy showed Hernandez was a homicide victim, according to the release.
Investigators were unable to find a match for DNA collected at the scene, and the case went cold. In February 2022, detectives collaborated with the Texas Rangers to use the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, police said.
Investigators used a third-party laboratory to conduct forensic genetic genealogical testing on the suspect’s DNA. They found a lead this September, which they were able to confirm through a DNA sample, according to the release.
Gardner is being held in the Grand Prairie Detention Center on a $1 million bond.
🚨 More top stories from our newsroom:
→ Ted Cruz-Colin Allred debate: What to expect Tuesday
→ In Arlington parking lot, police find SUV driver dead
→ Is Fort Worth’s Cultural District the next Uptown Dallas? He's betting on it
[Get our breaking news alerts.]
