NORTH CAROLINA — The State Crime Lab, which analyzes data including from its DNA database, noted matches have increased from 2023.
Its CODIS system saw 1,466 hits in the past fiscal year, breaking the previous record of 1,382 hits in 2023. Uploaded DNA into the system compares that of local, state, and national indexes, comparing DNA samples of people with previous convictions or arrests in the CODIS system, or if evidence is culled through forensic casework.
“I am incredibly grateful for the hard-working scientists at the State Crime Lab who test and analyze evidence,” Attorney General Josh Stein said in a press release. “Thanks to their dedication and expertise, law enforcement continues to take dangerous criminals off the street and make North Carolina safer and stronger.”
Just last month, almost 1,000 samples were entered into CODIS, prompting 65 hits. Almost 12,000 hits have come from the system since it began being used in the state. The crime lab has helped 9,200 law enforcement investigations, including two in New Hanover County, one utilized from running a backlog of rape kits.
The crime took place in 1995, when a 26-year-old convenience store clerk was raped at work. Freddie Anthony Jackson was charged in 2020 with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, and common law robbery, after he isolated and assaulted the clerk four times in the walk-in freezer before stealing cash and beer. Jackson was already serving time in a Columbus County prison for other offenses when he was identified as the perpetrator in the assault and sentenced up to 44 years in prison for the crime.
In March, North Carolina ended its rape kit backlog testing. To learn more about the North Carolina Department of Justice’s process of testing kits and updating the CODIS databases, click here.
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