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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An ex-convict has been charged in the killing of a 15-year-old girl after DNA tests linked him to her badly burned body that was found in an Indianapolis backyard in August, a prosecutor said Friday.
DNA found on Dominique Allen's sandals and body matched samples from 46-year-old William Gholston in the state inmate database, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said.
Investigators don't know of any connection between Allen and Gholston, who wasn't initially a suspect in the Aug. 31 slaying, Curry said.
"It was the DNA match in the database which brought Mr. Gholston's name to the attention of the detectives," he said during a news conference.
Several of Allen's relatives and friends held hands and prayed in a circle after the charges were announced, saying they hoped for a conviction.
"It's a little bit of relief, but we still have a bigger hump to climb over," said Mareeka Allen, a sister of the victim.
Gholston was released from prison in May after serving a sentence for 2006 convictions on illegal gun possession and resisting arrest charges. He previously served prison sentences for armed robbery and drug possession, according to Indiana Department of Correction records.
Curry said Gholston was arrested in the northeastern Indiana city of Bluffton this month for parole violation.
Court records didn't list an attorney for Gholston and an initial court hearing on the murder charge was scheduled for Monday.
Gholston told police investigators that he wasn't in Indianapolis in August and knew nothing about Allen's death, Curry said. The address Gholston gave for his parole was near where her body was found, but it wasn't clear when or whether he ever lived in the neighborhood on the city's near northwest side.
Curry wouldn't discuss whether the burning of Allen's body was an attempt to cover up the crime.
An autopsy determined that Allen, a Ben Davis High School freshman, died from asphyxiation. A coaxial cable was wrapped around her neck and ankles. Allen was dead before her body was burned, authorities said.
The teen's purse and shoes were discovered about a block from where her body was found, according to police. Allen was last seen about 4:15 a.m. Aug. 31 outside Mareeka Allen's home, where she was staying for the weekend, court documents said. Family members reported her missing about 1 p.m.
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