Arrest made in 2019 Raleigh homicide after new forensic testing identifies suspect
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A man has been arrested in connection with a 2019 homicide in Raleigh after new forensic testing helped investigators identify a suspect years later.
Officers responded on June 6, 2019, to the 3300 block of Vinson Court after a body was found at nearby Brentwood Park.
Investigators said the victim, Jorge Zelaya, 26, had suffered stab wounds and died from his injuries. His mother told ABC11 in 2019 that her son's throat had been cut.
Homicide detectives conducted interviews with people in the area and those connected to Zelaya but were unable to identify a suspect, leaving the case unsolved for years.
In February, Raleigh police conducted a review of the evidence collected in the original case. That evidence was sent to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory for additional testing using advancements in forensic technology that were not available in 2019.
On May 6, Raleigh Police said, investigators received results that produced a positive match linking evidence from the case to 49-year-old Roger Riddick.
The case was then presented to the Wake County District Attorney's Office, and charges were approved.
Raleigh police officers arrested Riddick on Thursday. He was taken into custody and charged with murder.
Riddick is being held at theWake County Detention Center.
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