SUSPECT: Kevin Edison Smith (on trial for murder of Krystal Jean Baker)

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http://www.khou.com/news/local/Judge-sets-January-trial-date-for-suspect-in-Killing-Fields-murder-133"172658.html

"Judge sets January trial date for suspect in 'Killing Fields' murder
by KFDM News
CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – A judge has set a January 7 trial date for a man charged with capital murder in the 1996 beating, sexual assault and strangulation of 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker in Chambers County, KFDM News reports.
Investigators say Kevin Edison Smith, 46, is a person of interest in several murders of young girls and women in the Houston to Galveston I-45 corridor, an area known as the "Killing Fields."
"Baker’s body was found under the Trinity River Bridge off Interstate 10 in March of 1996 after she was last seen at a convenience store in Texas City. The case went cold after investigators couldn’t find any suspects in her murder."
_______________________________________________
Krystal is related to Norma Jean Baker, ala Marylin Monroe
 
http://www.khou.com/home/Judge-sets-January-trial-date-for-suspect-in-Killing-Fields-murder-133172658.html


http://www.khou.com/news/local/Judge-sets-January-trial-date-for-suspect-in-Killing-Fields-murder-133"172658.html

"Judge sets January trial date for suspect in 'Killing Fields' murder
by KFDM News
CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – A judge has set a January 7 trial date for a man charged with capital murder in the 1996 beating, sexual assault and strangulation of 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker in Chambers County, KFDM News reports.
Investigators say Kevin Edison Smith, 46, is a person of interest in several murders of young girls and women in the Houston to Galveston I-45 corridor, an area known as the "Killing Fields."
"Baker’s body was found under the Trinity River Bridge off Interstate 10 in March of 1996 after she was last seen at a convenience store in Texas City. The case went cold after investigators couldn’t find any suspects in her murder."
_______________________________________________
Krystal is related to Norma Jean Baker, ala Marylin Monroe

Edited to add the link. Added link to entire story and video
http://www.kfdm.com/articles/court-45562-daughter-killer.html
 
CHAMBERS COUNTY SHERIFF: LOUISIANA MAN CONFESSES TO KILLING 13-YEAR-OLD TEXAS CITY GIRL 14 YEARS AGO

Kevin Edison Smith of Louisiana has been charged with the murder of Krystal Jean Baker, 13, who was last seen in 1996 leaving her grandmother's house in Texas City. Smith was arrested on Sept. 22 — his birthday — at a refinery in Groves, Texas.

Smith was located in Groves, Texas, and arrested while working at a refinery on Sept. 22 — Smith’s birthday, LaRive noted.Smith was booked into the Chambers County Jail, and bond set at $1 million.

"A search warrant was then obtained, and a second DNA sample was obtained from Smith,”LaRive said. “That sample was tested against the evidence from the murder scene for confirmation.”

http://www.silsbeebee.com/news.php?viewStory=2118
 
By Amanda Casanova

The Daily News
Published December 21, 2010
TEXAS CITY — A man charged with capital murder in the 1996 rape and strangulation death of a Texas City teenager pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Monday at the Chambers County Courthouse.

Kevin Edison Smith, 45, is accused of sexually assaulting and killing Krystal Jean Baker, 13. Her body was found March 5, 1996, beneath the Trinity River bridge on Interstate 10.

After Smith’s plea, Judge Carroll E. Wilborn Jr. set Smith’s next court date for Feb. 2.

“Nobody pleads guilty at an arraignment,” Stephen Taylor, Smith’s attorney, said. “I just spoke to him for the first time last Thursday. We need to get started. I’ve got a huge file and plenty to get started on.”



http://galvestondailynews.com/story/199450
 
TEXAS CITY, Texas - For the last 14 years, Jeanie Escamilla could only see her daughter's face in photos.

"If I had any wishes right now, I wish I could wake up out of this nightmare and hold my little girl in my arms," Escamilla says.

In 1996 Escamilla's daughter, Krystal Baker, was kidnapped in Texas City.

The 13-year-old was strangled.

Her body was dumped by the Trinity River Bridge in Chambers County.

For nearly a decade and a half, no one was arrested.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100924-14-years-later-suspect-arrested-in-teens-murder
 
CHAMBERS COUNTY SHERIFF: LOUISIANA MAN CONFESSES TO KILLING 13-YEAR-OLD TEXAS CITY GIRL 14 YEARS AGO

By SCOTT REESE WILLEY

Hometown Press

A Louisiana man has confessed to killing a 13-year-old Texas City girl 14 years ago, Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive announced Thursday.

Kevin Edison Smith, 45, confessed on Oct. 19 to the slaying of Krystal Jean Baker in June 1996, LaRive told the media via email.

A state medical lab has confirmed earlier this month that Smith's DNA matched the DNA found on the dress of Baker, whose body was found beneath a Chambers County bridge in 1996, LaRive reported Friday.

full_2118.jpg


http://www.silsbeebee.com/files/image/article/full_2118.jpg

http://www.silsbeebee.com/chambers-county-sheriff-louisiana-man-confesses-to-killing-13-year-old-texas-city-girl-14-years-ago-cms-2118
 
I also would like to see his DNA tested against any DNA in the cases of Laura Smither and Amber Hagerman. He has lived/worked in both Friendswood and Arlington around the times of their murders.
 
Is suspect in teen girl's murder linked to any 'Killing Fields' cases?
October 27, 2011 12:14 PM
Lindsey Kovacevich

Could he be linked to some of the cases from "The Killing Fields?"

Just off of Interstate 45, south of Houston, is a small to mid-sized industrial town called Texas City. If you're not from Texas, you might drive by the town without giving it a second glance. Most of the people work at refineries and chemical plants. They make news when something goes wrong there. In 1996, something else made news.


http://www.kfdm.com/articles/fields-45475-killing-county.html#ixzz1o4Cv05Dl
 
Welder arrested in 1996 killing of Texas City girl
September 24, 2010

Her daughter, Krystal Jean Baker, last was seen as she stormed out of her grandmother’s home in Texas City after a family disagreement about 3 p.m. on March 5th, 1996. Two hours later, her strangled body was found near the Interstate 10 feeder road at the Trinity River in Chambers County.

Two weeks passed before authorities linked the body to the missing teen in Texas City.

“They kept calling her a runaway,’’ Escamilla said, adding that “she was too girly-girly to be a runaway.’’

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7216137.html
 
Man accused of killing teen 14 years ago won't face death
October 22, 2010

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The death penalty has been taken off the table in the case of a man accused of kidnapping and killing a teenage girl 14 years ago.
The Chambers County District Attorney says she agreed not to seek the death penalty against Kevin Edison Smith in exchange for a confession.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7740719
 
Judge sets January trial date for suspect in 'Killing Fields' murder
.by KFDM News
khou.com

Posted on November 3, 2011 at 11:41 AM

CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – A judge has set a January 7 trial date for a man charged with capital murder in the 1996 beating, sexual assault and strangulation of 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker in Chambers County, KFDM News reports.

Smith, his attorney and the Chambers County District Attorney were in court Wednesday morning for a hearing. The D.A. wanted to change Smith’s December 12 trial because of the holidays. A judge set trial for January 7, 2012.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Judge-sets-January-trial-date-for-suspect-in-Killing-Fields-murder-133172658.html
 
It is such a shame that he confessed and they have his DNA now his attorney alleges that the DNA isn't proof and the confession was coherced! According to his attorney, Smith could have gotten his DNA on her dress and it doesn't prove he killed her.

He was arrested on his 45th birthday. I hope he is convicted before his 47th birthday.
 
I also would like to see his DNA tested against any DNA in the cases of Laura Smither and Amber Hagerman. He has lived/worked in both Friendswood and Arlington around the times of their murders.

Smith's DNA was entered in CODIS in 2010 when he was arrested in Louisiana on a drug charge. It turned up as a match for DNA recovered in Krystal Baker's murder, and that's why he was arrested.

Around the same time in Louisiana, a man named Kevin Edison Smith was arrested on a drug charge. His DNA was taken as part of a routine procedure under Louisiana law and entered into a nationwide computer data bank.
If he left DNA at any other crime scenes, CODIS should have hit on them, too. Unfortunately, in Smither's case, exposure to the elements for 17 days destroyed any viable DNA evidence. Carpet fibers were found and matched to Reece's car, and Laura's parents are convinced he's the killer. In 1999, the Smithers were granted a $10 million judgment from a wrongful death suit against Reece.

The Smithers don't have DNA evidence, but they think they know who killed their daughter Laura.
It was a stroke of luck that Smith was arrested in Louisiana on the drug charge, because here the law requires all felony arrestees to submit a buccal swab. He would not have been required to submit a sample if he'd been arrested for drugs in Texas because the law places tougher restrictions on obtaining DNA samples from arrestees.
Jeanie Baker is pushing for a law in Texas similar to the one in Louisiana that helped capture Krystal's alleged killer -- a law that would require DNA testing of all arrested suspects.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_1...fields/?pageNum=5&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Quotes snipped from CBS 48 Hours Mystery: The Real-Life Mystery of Texas "Killing Fields", October 22, 2011. Much more at the link.
 
Timeline Map


smith_timeline_map_620x350.jpg
Here's the timeline that accompanies the map at the 48 Hours Mystery website:

1998
Friendswood, Texas
1999
Houston, Texas
Webster, Texas
2000
Houston, Texas
Webster, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Bastrop, La.
2001
Venus, Texas
Texas City, Texas
2002
Hood County, Texas
2003
Freeport, Texas
Phoenix, Ariz.
2004
Texas City, Texas
2005
Bedford, Texas
Durham, N.C.
Texas City, Texas

2006
Arlington, Texas
Phoenix, Ariz.
Fort Worth, Texas
2007
Mansfield, Texas
Hitchcock, Texas
2008
Durham, N.C.
Fort Worth, Texas
Houston, Texas
Opelousas, La.
2009
La Marque, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
2010
Houston, Texas
Opelousas, La.
Texas City, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
La Marque, Texas


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/20/48hours/main20122789.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody


If this information is correct, he lived in the area at least since the 1980's:

A 2007 newspaper article announcing Smith's marriage to an Opelousas, La., woman reported that the suspect was a 1984 graduate of Galveston's Ball High School.


His mother, according to the article, resided in Texas City; his father is deceased.
DNA Linking Man to Teen's '96 Death Gives Her Family Answers
Houston Chronicle, September 24, 2010
 
Smith only left DNA on Baker's dress, which may indicate he used a condom during the sexual assault. If that is the case, there could possibly not be any DNA left on other victims regardless of how long they were exposed to the elements.

If is my understanding that the detective investigating her murder in Chambers County repeatedly submitted the DNA from Krystal's case into CODIS in hopes of getting a match. The last time it was submitted was in late 2009. I am not exactly sure how CODIS works, but I know sometimes it can take quite a while to get a hit and then it has to be verified. I do know that the DNA from a case has to be submitted regularly and there has to be DNA in the first place.
 

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