Detectives with the Dallas Police Department have arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with a sexual assault case that had remained unsolved for more than a decade after new DNA evidence led investigators to a breakthrough. DPD announced the arrest on Friday, July 10, more than a decade after the assault went unsolved.
Police said the arrest stems from work conducted through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), a nationwide program launched to help law enforcement agencies process and investigate previously untested sexual assault evidence.
In 2021, Detective Elizabeth DeAngelis was assigned to lead Dallas police’s SAKI efforts, focusing on some of the department’s oldest unsolved sexual assault cases. DeAngelis, who previously worked in the department’s Vice and Human Trafficking units, began reviewing cold case files in an effort to identify new investigative leads.
According to police, DeAngelis received notification in February 2026 that DNA evidence from one of those cases had produced a match. She partnered with Detective Sara Sheerin to reopen the investigation, reinterview victims and collect additional DNA evidence to compare with evidence gathered during the original investigation.
After reviewing the new and existing evidence, investigators identified 35-year-old Jarvis Pierce as a suspect, police said.
Detective Carlos Cardenas then joined the investigation and interviewed the suspect. Police said information obtained during that interview, combined with the DNA evidence, helped investigators establish probable cause for an arrest warrant.
The Dallas Police Fugitive Unit arrested Pierce in June 2026. He has been charged with sexual assault.
Investigators said they are continuing to examine whether Pierce may be connected to additional unsolved cold cases.
The department credited the collaborative efforts of DeAngelis, Sheerin and Cardenas with advancing the investigation and helping bring resolution to a case that had remained unsolved for years.
“Our goal is to give victims a voice, a sense of relief, and an equal shot at justice,” the detectives said in a statement released by the department.
The investigation remains ongoing.