FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 25, 2019
Brooklyn Man Indicted for 1992 Cold Case Murder of Woman
Who Was Found Naked and Shot on Brownsville Rooftop
Recently-Tested Oral Swabs Matched Defendant’s DNA
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, today announced that a 56-year-old man has been indicted for the 1992 murder of a young woman whose naked body was discovered on a Brownsville rooftop with gunshot wounds to the head. Oral swabs that were tested for DNA for the first time last year matched the DNA of the defendant, who was allegedly seen on the roof the day of the homicide.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “My Cold Case Unit works tirelessly to ensure that justice is obtained for all murder victims in Brooklyn, no matter how long it takes. A review of the evidence in this cold case and new DNA testing have allowed us to charge this defendant with a heinous crime and we will now seek to hold him accountable.”
Commissioner O’Neill said, “The ability of investigators to finally bring about justice for this young woman and provide a sense of closure to her loved ones is paramount. The identification and arrest of the suspect in this case was truly a team effort that would not have been possible without the close partnership that exists between the NYPD and our law-enforcement partners. I thank and commend the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit, and the hardworking members of the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad, our Sex Offender Monitoring Unit, and the 73rd Precinct Detective Squad. Some may think tragic cases like this get forgotten or abandoned. I hope this arrest and prosecution proves that we do not ever give up.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Calvin Grant, 56, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was arraigned yesterday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Laura Johnson on one count of second-degree murder and was ordered held without bail and to return to court on April 5, 2019. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on April 11, 1992, a 21-year-old woman, Stacey Lynette Joyner, was discovered naked and unresponsive, with two gunshot wounds to the head, on the rooftop of 230 Lott Avenue in Brownsville. Building security guards heard a gunshot and rushed to the roof, where they discovered her body.
In the spring of 2018, the Brooklyn DA’s Cold Case Unit reviewed the case file and determined that oral swabs that were taken at the time of the autopsy had not been previously tested for DNA. Testing revealed that semen found on the oral swabs matched the DNA of the defendant, which was on file with the New York State DNA databank after a prior 2000 conviction in Brooklyn for third-degree robbery. The investigation revealed that the defendant lived in the building next door at the time of the homicide and that an individual who knew him allegedly got into a confrontation with him on the rooftop hours before the murder and observed him to have a gun.
The case was investigated by New York City Police Department Detective Robert Dewhurst of the NYPD Cold Case Squad under the supervision of Lt. Dennis Klein.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Nicole Itkin, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Singer, Chief of the District Attorney’s Forensic Science and Cold Case Unit, and Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt