Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot
at a news conference.
The Dallas Morning News
Dec. 12, 2024, Updated 4:24 p.m. CST
The Dallas County district attorney’s office is creating a new unit to prosecute cold case killings, thanks to a $2.3 million federal award.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance grant will fund the four-person team, including two attorneys, who will inventory, investigate and prosecute cold cases, according to the district attorney’s office. The
Dallas Police Department has tallied about 2,000 cold cases since 1970, a police spokesman said in an email.
“This grant will allow us to apply more resources to not only solve more cases but solve them faster than ever before,” Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement. “This is an
incredibly profound time for the people of Dallas County to finally get justice for some of the worst crimes committed on our citizens.”
Creuzot said the new team will advance the district attorney’s office’s legacy as a nationwide leader in cold cases. This year, prosecutors secured convictions in decades-old sexual assaults, a 1986 slaying and a 1989 murder solved by creating a genetic family tree from crime scene DNA.
The unit will be
staffed as soon as January, Creuzot said. Its funding runs until 2027, with an option for the grant to be renewed.
The DA’s office also won nearly $1.5 million to continue its Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a program
established in 2015 to clear backlog of more than 4,000 untested sexual assault examination kits collected by Dallas police.
“We are open for all cold case business,” Creuzot said.
