The man was linked to the crime scene through a Styrofoam cup found at the location of the murder and a cigarette butt discovered at his mother's residence.
The Berks County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania announced the arrest of Vallis L. Slaughter, 39, charging him with first-degree murder. The charges pertain to the murder of Julio Torres, 34, who was killed outside the West Reading Diner in March 2012.
Berks County District Attorney, John T. Adams, revealed in a press conference that the initial investigation into Torres' murder had led to the arrest and conviction of Jomain Case, who was 22 years old at the time. The investigation revealed that Torres, Case, and a third individual were embroiled in a dispute before Torres was killed.
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Case was arrested and charged with involvement in the murder after his DNA was matched with a piece of Styrofoam cup found at the crime scene. However, subsequent analysis of the Styrofoam cup did not match any samples in the database.
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Investigators discovered that Slaughter, who resided in New York City at the time, was in Reading, Pennsylvania on the night of the murder. Despite exhaustive efforts, the case went cold due to a lack of new leads.
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Approximately 12 years post the crime, investigators reopened the case and unearthed a new piece of evidence - a cell phone picture of Slaughter taken on the night of the murder. With the aid of facial recognition software, investigators identified Slaughter as the alleged shooter responsible for Torres' death.
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In December of last year, while Slaughter was residing with his mother in Jersey City, New Jersey, investigators obtained a discarded cigarette butt. The DNA from the cigarette butt's filter matched the DNA found on the Styrofoam cup from the 2012 crime scene.
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Slaughter was arrested last Wednesday at his mother's residence by the Jersey City Police Department. He is currently held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility, awaiting extradition to Berks County. Slaughter now faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, and possession of instruments of crime.
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