After four decades of silence, persistence has led the Phoenix Police Department to a break in the city's oldest cold case homicide. The suspect in the 1986 murder of 18-year-old Lachelle "Shelly" Waite has been apprehended, according to the City of Phoenix. The case that persisted in the archives of unresolved tragedy, found its suspect in 70-year-old Alfred Earl Green.
As reported by the City of Phoenix, Waite's life was cut short in her own home near 59th Avenue and Thomas Road. There was no sign of a break-in, suggesting she might've known her killer. The house was ransacked, and her life, filled with future potential, was put to an abrupt end. Detective Dominick Roestenberg, intimately familiar with the case after years of investigation said, "She was beautiful inside and out. She was caring, kind and had an amazing future ahead of her."
The Phoenix PD's Cold Case Homicide Unit re-examined the Waite case in 2016 and found a piece of unprocessed evidence collected at the crime scene in 1986. With technological advancements, this evidence underwent advanced DNA testing in 2022, the puzzle started to reveal an image, one piece at a time. On Thursday, Green already incarcerated for an unrelated crime, faced new charges when he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in relation to Waite's death.
The work done over the years by law enforcement, "Being able to finally let the family know, and also let the community know that after 39 years, we're still working on these cases, trying to get justice for them, for the victims and their families, speaks to what this unit is all about," Roestenberg eloquently reflected, as stated by the City of Phoenix.
