DNA Evidence From 1992 Led to Murder Charges Today

Between 1992 and 2013, countless police officers looked through the case file of Deeondra Dawson, a 25-year-old woman who was brutally stabbed to death in her apartment on Sherman Avenue 21 years ago.

It wasn’t until the last twelve months, however, that investigators finally got a break in the case, thanks to good evidence collection at the scene and advances in DNA technology.

“Sometimes it is an excruciating, plodding process, but we don’t forget the victims and we don’t forget the families,” Evanston Police Chief Richard Eddington told reporters during a press conference Friday.

Earlier: Evanston Police Charge Chicago Man in 1992 Homicide

Sgt. Steven Goldenberg, who was an evidence technician in 1992, collected swabs of possible DNA evidence from Dawson’s body after she was found lying in a pool of blood in her apartment at 634 Sherman Ave., according to Evanston Police Cmdr. Jason Parrott, a spokesperson for the department. The state crime lab analyzed the swabs at the time, but no matches appeared, and the evidence was stored at the Evanston Police Station for years.

Recently, as part of the department’s regular investigation of cold cases, detectives resubmitted the swabs to the Illinois State Crime Lab for analysis, Parrott said. The crime lab ran the DNA profile through its system for matches from anyone whose DNA is on file, including all convicted felons, who are required to submit a DNA sample.

This time, the lab found a match with DNA from 43-year-old Jimmie Dunlap, a resident of the 5300 block of South Cottage Grove in Chicago with 11 prior felony convictions on his record, according to Parrott. He said Dunlap used to live in the Evanston area, and detectives worked with the Illinois Department of Corrections to locate him and obtain another voluntary DNA sample, a step that is required before police can press charges.

In an interview with Evanston Police detectives, Dunlap admitted that he knew Dawson but denied that he had ever been alone with her, according to court documents. He was arrested and charged with one count of first degree murder last week, according to police.

Autopsy results indicated that Dawson died of multiple stab wounds, court documents show. In total, she suffered approximately 34 stab wounds, many other injuries and a human bite mark on her cheek, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.    
 
Police determined that Dawson’s four-year-old son was present when his mother was killed, and saw her murderer hitting his mother in the middle of the night, then found her the next morning lying on the floor, dead, according to court documents. 

Detectives interviewed Dawson’s son and other potential witnesses again over the last year, hoping to find more evidence. Details of the case were also aired on Crime Stoppers Case Files: Chicago in March, although no witnesses came forward following the TV show, Parrott said.     

Police notified Dawson’s family members before they released the news of Dunlap’s arrest to the media, according to Parrott.

“They were very pleased with the outcome, although it still doesn’t bring back the victim,” he said.

According to Parrott, Dawson’s case is one of about 10 unsolved cold case murders the Evanston Police Department is still investigating, including one from the late 1970s.

“It’s important that the public knows, especially the citizens of Evanston…there’s a lot of effort we put forth to try to solve these crimes,” Parrott said.

Referring to a recent meeting held with family members of homicide victims whose cases are unsolved, Chief Eddington vowed that the department would continue to investigate those murders.

“I committed to our continuing attention to these matters,” he said. “We have a responsibility to the victims and their families that we take very seriously.”