In a significant development at the federal courthouse in Del Rio, former soldier Allen Houston James, age 46, from Suffolk, Virginia, was handed a sentence of more than 16 years in prison for the attempted murder of a fellow soldier. This sentence stems from an incident that occurred while he was stationed at Fort Hood, now known as Fort Cavazos, back in June 2000. According to court documents cited by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the attack involved James entering the victim's barracks room and attempting to commit rape at knifepoint before inflicting multiple stab wounds as she resisted.
The victim, whose identity remains protected, managed to escape despite her injuries and immediately reported the assault. Medical records highlighted that one stab wound came dangerously close to severing her jugular vein and caused permanent nerve damage. Despite initial efforts, the case went cold after a DNA profile failed to produce a match, and a suspect couldn't immediately be identified. However, thanks to new DNA analysis technology, the case was reopened in 2019 by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory.
It was only in 2021, with this breakthrough in forensic science, that authorities were able to positively identify James as the assailant. At the time, he was stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Following his indictment on July 13, 2021, for one count of attempt to commit murder, James was arrested the next day. The trial, which concluded on February 23, 2024, resulted in a guilty verdict by the jury, as reported by the Department of Justice.
In her announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman underscored the persistence of the judicial system in bringing perpetrators to justice, no matter how much time has passed. Army CID's investigation was instrumental in reviving the cold case and ensuring that evidence once deemed inconclusive could now definitively link James to the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Frazier, Mary Kucera, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Siddharth Dadhich were the prosecutors who worked tenaciously to build the case against James.
