The brutal murder of a Dallas teen remained a mystery for three decades. Tamika Cromer had been raped, strangled and burned, her body discarded under a bridge in a secluded spot near the Trinity River.
A bra was found twisted around the 15-year-old girl’s neck; a gas can and cigarette butt were nearby.
Police had suspects, but the case eventually went cold. Three years ago, DNA linked Steven Augusta Ridge of Dallas to the crime.
On Monday, a Dallas County jury found Ridge guilty of capital murder for the 1996 slaying.
The panel deliberated more than a dozen hours over three days. Judge Molly Francis sentenced Ridge, 59, to life in prison.
“Huge sighs of relief and some tears,” Dallas County district attorney’s office spokeswoman Claire Crouch said of the family’s reaction to the verdict. The family declined an interview request made by The Dallas Morning News through the prosecutor’s office.
Tamika had been missing for four days when her body was discovered in February 1996 under the Cedar Crest Bridge. The crossing connects East Oak Cliff to South Dallas.
Firefighters responded to a report of a small fire nearby.
Semen collected from the body was used to create a DNA profile, but it wasn’t until 2023 — after significant advances in DNA technology had been made — that investigators got a match.
“We’re here today because of the science,” prosecutor Katherine Lessing told jurors in her closing arguments. “It doesn’t matter that it took 30 years to get here.”
Defense attorney Messina Madson argued the DNA evidence only showed that Ridge had sex with Tamika — which was illegal due to her age — but it didn’t prove he killed her.
Madson suggested that Tamika’s adult boyfriend, who initially was a suspect in the case, could have killed her. He was a known drug dealer, the defense lawyer said, and had recently threatened to kill Tamika.
Madson argued Tamika could have had sex with Ridge during the four days she was missing and been killed by someone else.
Assistant District Attorney Kristin Treager told jurors in her closings that the location of the recovered DNA matching Ridge meant the murder had to have happened shortly after the sexual assault.
“That’s what ties this man not only to the rape, but also to this murder,” Treager said.
The prosecutor also pointed to evidence showing that gasoline had been poured on Tamika’s groin before the fire was set. The move was an attempt to destroy evidence, she argued.
“He wanted to erase anything that could be tied back to him,” Treager told jurors in her closing argument. “Tamika deserved better. This family deserved better. They’ve been waiting 30 years for this day and we’re here to get it right.”