DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) from 1994 sexual assault case reveled suspect’s link to multiple unsolved cases in Arizona.
According to People, officials said that DNA collected from 1994 sexual assault in California linked the 55-year-old man to decades-old unsolved sexual assault cases.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office in a press release on Monday stated that Abraham Ramirez has been linked to four cold cases in Arizona between 1998 and 2013.
Ramirez now faces 11 charges, including sexual assault and kidnapping, in Maricopa County Superior Court.
The revelation was made during the forensic work of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (VCSAKI).The initiative tested a 1994 sexual assault kit from a case which was dismissed due to insufficient evidence where a woman escaped after being assaulted by Ramirez.
But the advanced technology not only proved him convicted in the 1994 case but also in four previously unsolved sexual assault cases in the Phoenix area. The first two cases happened in 1998 and 1999, while the other two assaults happened in 2013.
Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said, “This case proves that no matter how much time has passed, we will use every tool available to pursue justice and stand with survivors. It is a powerful example of why we remain committed to testing every sexual assault kit in Ventura County.”
Furthermore, the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (VCSAKI) that was launched nationwide in 2022 aims to solve unsolved sexual assault cases, and the breakthrough initiative proved successful in Ramirez's case, who was indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury in August.