Cold case cracked: DNA evidence links suspect to 2008 Grand Prairie murder

Cold case solved: 2008 Grand Prairie killer

Grand Prairie police have made an arrest in connection to a 2008 murder thanks to DNA evidence.

Grand Prairie, Texas - Grand Prairie police have arrested a suspect in a 2008 murder case following advancements in DNA testing technology.

Jerry Lee Gardner (Source: Grand Prairie Police)

Jerry Gardner, 44, was arrested on Oct. 4 in Lufkin, Texas, for the murder of Raymond Hernandez, who was found dead in a burning home in 2008. Hernandez worked as a probation officer for the Dallas County Juvenile Department at the time of his death.

An autopsy determined Hernandez had been stabbed multiple times before his home on Channing Drive in Grand Prairie was set on fire.

Investigators collected DNA evidence from a potential suspect at the scene in 2008, but the case went cold after no match was found in the national DNA database.

In February 2022, genealogical testing conducted by a third-party lab gave police a lead, and a DNA sample later confirmed the match to Gardner.

"You cannot get away with this crime and think that you can just go your whole life… like nothing happened," said Victoria Padilla-Dominguez, a former coworker of Hernandez. "I’m glad he’s caught."

Gardner has been charged with capital murder and is being held at the Grand Prairie Detention Center on a $1 million bond.