Phoenix police have arrested a suspect in their oldest cold case to date: the 1986 murder of 18-year-old Lachelle “Shelly” Jeannine Waite.
Alfred Earl Green, 70, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Thursday, the Phoenix Police Department announced. But Green is already spending life behind bars for the fatal shooting of his 29-year-old ex-girlfriend Yolanda Taylor in front of her children in 1988.
Green appeared in court Thursday, during which prosecutors claimed he stole jewelry, and a gun and “sold them immediately after the murder.”
Green responded: “I know she did a lot of lying.”
He will be arraigned next week.
Waite was found dead by her older sister Annette in her Phoenix home on January 16, 1986. Her body was in her mother’s room, and police say she was strangled to death.
She worked in the Maryvale area and was a recent graduate of Maryvale High School, according to Phoenix police. There, she danced, sang in choir, and tutored students.
“I’ve gotten close with Lachelle’s family over the years and I’ve learned what an amazing person Shelly was,” Cold Case Detective Dominick Roestenberg said in a statement.
said. “She was beautiful inside and out. She was caring, kind and had an amazing future ahead of her.
As officers investigated, they found no signs of forced entry and believed Waite knew her killer.
"The detective has been able to identify that the suspect in this case was known to the victim through the victim's boyfriend at the time," Sgt. Brian Bower told KNXV.
The case went cold after investigators had strong leads but not enough evidence to arrest or charge anyone, the department said.
But in 2016, the Phoenix Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit reviewed the case and identified evidence that couldn’t be processed at the time. Six years later, DNA was submitted for review. Then, with additional witnesses and data, police identified Green as their suspect this week.
“Being able to finally let the family know, and also let the community know that after 39 years, we're still working on these cases, trying to get justice for them, for the victims and their families, speaks to what this unit is all about," Roestenberg said.
