MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A man living in the area of Cold Spring, Minn. has been arrested in connection with a cold case murder that happened in Chicago in 2009.
According to Chicago Police, 47-year-old Rene Valentine-Matos is suspected in the death of Jahmeshia Conner.
Connor was last seen at a bus stop at 64th and Racine on November 15, 2009. Officials say she was returning home from church. Her disappearance reportedly went unreported for days because police believed her to be a runaway.
The 12-year-old girl was beaten and strangled. Her body was found in an alley about a block away from where she lived.
Police said that Valentine-Matos’ DNA, which had been on file from a 2011 rape case, matched DNA found on Conner’s body.
As reported by CBS Chicago, Area Central Lieutenant Ozzie Valdez said that Valentin-Matos worked as a janitor at the church Conner’s family attended and could be placed as close as half a block from her home.
“Our detectives did a phenomenal job locating him in Minnesota. We went out there, we interviewed him and we got what we needed from him, came back, reviewed it with the states attorney’s office,” said Valdez. “After several months, a long ordeal, he fought extradition, he lost it, was brought back to Chicago.”
Valentine-Matos is scheduled for a court appearance on Thursday.
