DNA leads to arrest in unsolved 2019 case | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

HOT SPRINGS – DNA evidence led to the arrest of a suspect Thursday in connection with an unsolved home invasion and murder of a local man on Portland Street in 2019, according to a news release from Hot Springs police.

Rickey Charles Wilson Jr., 27, of Robin Street, was booked into the Garland County Jail just before 5 p.m. He is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated home invasion and aggravated robbery, each of which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Wilson was held on $500,000 bail and the case was forwarded directly to Garland County District Court.

According to the press release, on June 13, 2019, Hot Springs police responded to 200 Portland St., where a burglary and murder of Kenneth Kelley Jr. (23) occurred, who was found dead in his apartment there.

“During the course of the investigation, an item containing DNA was collected and sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab where it was entered into CODIS (Combined DNA Index System),” the press release states.

On August 12, the police crime lab notified them that DNA had been matched to Wilson. Arrest warrants were obtained and he was taken into custody on Thursday, they said.

In a July 2019 interview, former Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey said that of the 10 murders that had occurred in the city so far that year, stemming from nine separate incidents, Kelly's death was the only one that remained unsolved.

Stachey also said Kelly's death was one of only two murders “related to drugs and robbery,” while all the others “fell into the domestic violence or interpersonal relationship category.”

The family had offered a reward of $1,500 for information, which was later increased to $2,000.