Exoneration, new arrest in 1985 EDH murder case

Since his conviction, Ricky Davis continued to plead his innocence in an El Dorado Hills murder that took place 35 years ago. Last Thursday, 54-year-old Davis walked out of El Dorado County Superior Court a free man after a stunning series of events. After serving some 14 years behind bars, Davis was exonerated from the 1985 murder of Jane Hylton, an area newspaper columnist that resided in El Dorado Hills. The 1985 case went unsolved for 14 years before investigators said DNA evidence and an incriminating statement by a resident of the home tied Davis to the slaying back in November of 1999. He was then sentenced in 2005 to 16 years-to-life, accused of stabbing Hylton 29 times in what was described as a brutal scene. Davis' walk to freedom came as newly tested DNA evidence combined with the use of genealogical websites that led police to finally find and arrest what appears to be the true suspect in the case. "This is the first case in California and only the second in this country where investigative genetic genealogy has not only led to the freeing on an individual from prison for a crime he did not commit, but the identification of the true source," said Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. Michael Green was arrested in Placer County on a warrant out of El Dorado County. Green was reportedly one of three males who were with the victim's teenage daughter at a nearby park on the night Hylton's murder occurred on July 7, 1985. For all these years, Davis has been behind bars awaiting retrial, for a crime he didn't commit. El Dorado Superior Court Judge Kenneth Melekian ended that when he threw out his second-degree murder conviction in the emotional court hearing last week, stating that Davis was "factually innocent of the murder." It was then revealed that police had tracked down and arrested the 'real killer' by running the suspect's DNA profile through the genealogy websites. El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson stated that a motion to dismiss the case had been filed earlier in the day. The motion was based on the DNA recovered at the crime scene which was recently processed for analysis at the urging of members of the Northern California Innocence Project out of Santa Clara College. "I would like to thank the Innocence Project for bringing (the DNA connection) to our office's attention," Pierson said. "Mr. Davis was wrongfully accused and convicted of this crime. I'm not telling you that we can't prove it, I'm telling you Ricky Davis was wrongfully convicted." Using genetic genealogy, unknown male DNA found on the victim was identified as belonging to Green who was one of the three boys that Hylton's 13-year-old daughter, Autumn Anker, met in a park the night of the murder at the home Hylton shared with Anker, Davis, then 20, and Davis' 19-year-old girlfriend, Connie Dahl. Davis' 2005 conviction partially hinged on a statement from Dahl, who claimed she witnessed and helped him with the crime. Following Thursday's exoneration, an emotional reunion took place as Davis hugged his mother, family and friends as he became a free man. "Seeing him embrace his mom like that, that's why we do this work," said Attorney Melissa O'Connell, with the Northern California Innocence Project. "The interrogation methods were high-risk and were concerning to us that they likely resulted in a false confession or a false implication." O'Connell reportedly encouraged investigators to test evidence with new methods to analyze DNA. She called on the crime lab to test a bite mark on the victim's nightgown that Dahl claimed she was responsible for in her original statement. The new tests revealed that the DNA did not match Dahl or Davis. It did however, match that of Green. "Also was redundant DNA under the victims' severely injured hands, demonstrating how much she fought for her life before she succumbed to her injuries," O'Connell said. Investigators believe Green was possibly one of three boys, who were minors at the time and may have been with Hylton's daughter that tragic night. According to Pierson, one of the boys has since passed away and it's believed the other "was not a percipient witness to the incident itself, but was a witness to the immediate or somewhat immediate aftermath." He added that prosecutors don't believe Anker was present during the attack and confirmed that she is not a person-of-interest in the case, and that Dahl's confession, was "what I would characterize as an aggressive, confession-driven interrogation." The motive for the crime is still unknown and it's expected new answers as to what occurred that night will surface as Green has been incarcerated. Free at last, Davis is ready to get back to his life and make up for lost time, according to O'Connell, who relayed his comments to media. "I asked him, 'Did you ever think this day would come?' He said yes. He never gave up hope," O'Connell said. Davis said the first thing he wanted to do was get a slice of pizza. According to a statement from O'Connell, Davis plans to seek some compensation for his time spent behind bars. In California a compensation of as much of $140 can be awarded per day spent in prison in such cases. "We don't do this very often," Melekian said. He added that Davis is entitled to seek compensation for his wrongful conviction. At press time, Green remained in El Dorado County Jail, awaiting his first appearance in court. The Telegraph will continue to cover this story.