Woman killed on way home from doctor’s office in 1987, officials say. Man now sentenced
Julia Hernandez-Santiago was killed 36 years ago while walking home from a doctor’s appointment, according to California prosecutors.
The 26-year-old’s body was found “on an ivy-covered embankment” in Carlsbad on Oct. 10, 1987, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 25 news release. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled, prosecutors said.
For decades, there were no arrests in Hernandez-Santiago’s case.
However, using DNA technology, the Carlsbad Police Department said in a July 2020 Facebook post that it was able to pinpoint a suspect and make an arrest.
James Charles Kingery, 57, was arrested, and nearly two years later a jury found him guilty on first-degree murder and rape charges. Now prosecutors said he has been sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison.
“The victim’s loved ones had their lives shattered by this horrific murder and have waited more than three decades for justice and some closure. Today they have it,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in the release.
An attorney representing Kingery could not be reached for comment.
‘Much evidence’ but no leads
Though “much evidence” was collected where Hernandez-Santiago’s body was found, no suspects were identified, police said.
Over the decades, investigators continued to follow leads and examine evidence using “new information and new technology,” according to police.
Then, in March 2020, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on narcotics and weapons charges, and his DNA was entered into a database, police said.
Two months later, police said it was notified that the DNA of Kingery matched DNA found at the scene of the 1987 cold case killing, and he was arrested in July 2020.
“We are hopeful that the arrest can bring some sense of peace and closure to Ms. Santiago’s family,” police said at the time.
Carlsbad is about 25 miles northwest of San Diego.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 8:37 AM with the headline "Woman killed on way home from doctor’s office in 1987, officials say. Man now sentenced."
