DNA match leads to arrest in 1984 slaying

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

More than two decades after the crime, a suspect has been apprehended in the slaying of 18-year-old Elsie "Yolanda" Hernandez of Roxbury, law enforcement officials said today.

Yolanda Hernandez

Sultan Omar Chezulu, 60, of Atlanta, was arrested this morning in that city, police said. Chezulu was connected to the case by a match between DNA found on Hernandez's body and a DNA sample Chezulu gave when he left a Massachusetts prison in 2004, where he had been serving time since 1990 on unrelated charges.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said the arrest is “proof that no span of years and no physical distance will deter us from bringing a killer to justice."

Police Commissioner Ed Davis said that the arrest showed the "Boston Police Department will never give up in its efforts to bring criminals to justice" and that crime victims and their families are never forgotten.

Hernandez’s body was found in a vacant lot in Roxbury on Dec. 29, 1984. She had been missing for 20 hours when her body was discovered near the corner of Washington and Ball streets.

A graduate of Charlestown High School, Hernandez, whose full name was Elsie Yolanda Ruiz Hernandez, was an animal lover who aspired to be a veterinarian. Originally from Puerto Rico, she worked as a cashier and was just about to enroll as a full-time student at Northeastern University, the Globe reported at the time. A Northeastern sweatshirt was found 20 feet from her body.

Hernandez had been raped, strangled, and beaten over the head, officials said today. Last year, police went back to her case, and placed the DNA found on her body in a national DNA databank. The match with Chezulu's DNA was finally made two months ago, officials said. Chezulu, who changed his name from Robert L. Scott, will be returned to Boston tomorrow to face a murder charge.

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email

next article in local news Lawmakers urge Massport not to raise tolls on Tobin previous article in local news Boyfriend disputes murder charge against a mother, 16