Fort Hood soldier, 20, is arrested for 'murdering a woman', 32, found dead at Texas hotel located just six minutes away from the base last year
A Fort Hood soldier has been arrested in connection to the death of a woman found dead in a Texas hotel near the base last year.
Spc. Cory Grafton, 20, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with murder after a witness and advanced DNA testing allegedly linked him to the murder of Chelsea Cheatham 32.
Cheatham was found unconscious and not breathing in a Days Inn hotel on E. Central Texas Expressway, located about six minutes away from Fort Hood, on June 3, 2019.
Killeen police said detectives recently received her autopsy results and it was determined the manner of death was a homicide.
The Killeen Police Department utilized the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Program to match Grafton’s DNA with DNA found at the crime scene.
Fort Hood soldier Cory Grafton, 20, was arrested on Tuesday after a witness and advanced DNA testing allegedly linked him to the murder of Chelsea Cheatham, 32, who was found dead in a Days Inn hotel, six minutes away from the Texas base, in June 2019
At first the advanced DNA testing pointed to him as a possible suspect and authorities then interviewed him about her death and collected his DNA, which was found to be a match on Tuesday and he was subsequently arrested
For a year the case grew cold but police said that on September 2, that Texas Rangers informed them that the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Program could be used to help solve the case. Texas Rangers received a grant for DNA testing last year.
Following an investigation, authorities identified Grafton as a possible suspect.
Authorities then interviewed him about her death and collected his DNA, which was found to be a match on Tuesday and he was subsequently arrested.
'With the assistance from the Texas Rangers, DNA from the scene was submitted and the results confirmed that Gafton matched the DNA located on Cheatham,' the Killen Police department said.
In an interview with one of Grafton’s co-workers, the peer said Grafton had confessed to him about killing Cheatham.
Grafton is an active duty soldier assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division.
Fort Hood said in a statement: 'The unit continues to cooperate with the Killeen Police Department and the Texas Rangers.'
Cheatham's exact cause of death has not been announced and a motive behind the killing is not known.
Grafton was being held in lieu of $1 million bail Wednesday night, according to online jail records.
In an interview with one of Grafton’s co-workers the peer said Grafton had confessed to him about killing Cheatham
Cheatham was found unconscious and not breathing in a Days Inn hotel on E. Central Texas Expressway, located about six minutes away from Fort Hood, on June 3, 2019
His arrest has deepened the scandal at the Killeen, Texas base where Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-olld Private First Class soldier, was stationed and disappeared in April.
She was killed by a fellow soldier, 20-year-old Aaron Robinson, who allegedly buried her remains near the Leon River. Those remains were found on June 30.
Robinson died by suicide on July 1 as police honed in on him to confront him about him involvement with Guillen’s case.
Guillen’s heartbreaking case prompted a sexual harassment reckoning within the Army as she had told her family she was being sexually harassed at the based before disappearing.
His arrest has deepened the scandal at the Killeen, Texas base where Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-olld Private First Class soldier, disappeared and was murdered in April
This year alone there have been 28 deaths at Fort Hood base in Killeen, Texas including five homicides and eight suicides
This year alone there have been 28 deaths at Fort Hood base in Killeen, Texas including five homicides and eight suicides.
The extensive list of deaths, disappearances and suicides have led to several probes into the base's command culture and its handling of deaths missing cases and sexual assault reports.
In September, the I Am Vanessa Guillen bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to change the way the Army handles reports of sexual harassment and abuse.
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