Columbus cold case cracked with the help of DNA

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – DNA helps crack open a three year-old Columbus burglary and sexual assault cold case.

Now, 20 year-old Jamory Ross is charged with armed robbery, sexual assault and burglary.

“We haven’t been able to make a positive identification until DNA came in to the equation,” said Austin Shepherd, director of the Columbus Forensic Lab. “Without DNA we may not have solved it but it was certainly a hitch being in this case.”

The alleged incident happened on July 8, 2015.

Columbus police believe Ross broke into a home, burglarized the home, and sexually assaulted the victim.

The 20-year-old was arrested on Wednesday and currently remains in the Lowndes County jail.

Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton said DNA was collected from the original crime scene and ran through a national DNA database.

“So with DNA it never changes, it’s bio-metric, much like a fingerprint in that each person’s DNA is individual for the most part,” said Shepherd.

Ross’s DNA was collected when he went to prison for an auto burglary conviction and put into the CODIS system.

That national database is what turned up the hit, leading police to their suspect.

“If we find that type of evidence on a crime scene, then even if we can’t make a positive identification immediately with the use of CODIS, the DNA database, then that unknown DNA sits out there basically forever until an individual is arrested for another charge or their DNA goes on that system for some reason then we will make a positive identification.”

Ross was out on parole.

The Columbus man was denied bond when he appeared before a judge earlier this week.

This is the second cold case in less than a year that Columbus police has solved using DNA.

Just last May, David Murray II was arrested for the death of Mack Fowler, a cold case dating back to 1996.