The murder of Krystal Jean Baker
Texas City, Chambers County, Texas · 1996
Overview
Krystal Jean Baker, a 13-year-old from Texas City, Texas, left her grandmother's home on the afternoon of March 5, 1996, after an argument and was abducted as she looked for a way to a friend's house. She was sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled, and her body was found that same afternoon under the Trinity River Bridge on Interstate 10 in Chambers County, roughly two hours away near the Louisiana border; she remained a Jane Doe for about two weeks before being identified. DNA from a stain on her dress could not be analyzed with 1996 technology, and the case went cold for 14 years. A Chambers County evidence officer resubmitted the dress for testing in 2009, and a usable male profile was developed. On January 14, 2010, Kevin Edison Smith was arrested on a drug charge in Livonia, Louisiana, and a DNA sample was taken under that state's collection statute and entered into CODIS; on September 15, 2010, investigators were notified that Smith's profile matched the crime-scene DNA. He was arrested for the murder on September 22, 2010, and on April 26, 2012, a Chambers County jury convicted him of capital murder in less than 40 minutes; he was sentenced to 40 years, the equivalent of life without parole under 1996 Texas law. The case inspired the Krystal Jean Baker Act, allowing DNA collection from certain felony arrestees.
How it was solved
When Krystal Jean Baker was killed in March 1996, investigators recovered biological evidence on the dress she had been wearing, but the forensic technology of the time could not detect or develop a usable profile from it, and detectives were never able to identify a suspect. The case went cold for more than a decade. Beginning in 2009, a Chambers County Sheriff's Office evidence officer, Sherry Willcox, resubmitted the preserved evidence to the Texas Department of Public Safety crime laboratory, taking advantage of advances in DNA testing; the dress was sent in February 2009 and again in December 2009, and analysts succeeded in developing a male DNA profile from a semen stain, though it matched no one in any database at the time. The break came from an unrelated arrest. On January 14, 2010, Kevin Edison Smith was arrested on a drug charge in Livonia, Louisiana, and under Louisiana's arrestee-DNA statute a cheek-swab sample was collected from him and uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System. On September 15, 2010, the Chambers County evidence officer was notified that Smith's offender profile from the Louisiana arrest had matched the crime-scene DNA recovered from Krystal Baker's dress. An arrest warrant for murder was issued, and on September 22, 2010, Smith, then 45 and working as a welder, was taken into custody at his refinery job in Groves, Texas. According to investigators, Smith ultimately admitted involvement, characterizing the death as accidental, but he contested the prosecution's account at trial. On April 26, 2012, a Chambers County jury convicted Kevin Edison Smith of capital murder after deliberating less than 40 minutes, and Judge Carroll E. Willborn Jr. imposed a sentence of 40 years, which under the 1996 Texas Penal Code in effect at the time of the crime was the equivalent of life without the possibility of parole. The CODIS match that solved the case became the basis for the Krystal Jean Baker Act, House Bill 1399, which took effect September 1, 2019 and authorizes the collection of DNA from people charged with certain felonies.
Sources
- Krystal Jean Baker: How new DNA technology solved a cold case
“Krystal Jean Baker, 13, disappeared on March 5, 1996, was raped, beaten, and strangled to death, and her body was found under a bridge over the Trinity River in Chambers County; new DNA technology was able to detect a match in DNA via a semen stain on her dress to Kevin Edison Smith, who had been arrested on a minor drug charge in Louisiana.”
- The real-life mystery of Texas' killing fields
“Krystal Baker was 13 years old when she vanished on March 5, 1996, from Texas City after arguing with her grandmother; her body was found under an interstate bridge about two hours away near the Louisiana border, and although discovered the same day she disappeared she was listed as a Jane Doe for two weeks.”
- Pushing boulders at the Texas capitol
“On March 5, 1996, the unidentified body of a teenage girl was found under the Trinity River Bridge in Chambers County; she had been sexually assaulted and strangled and was identified as 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker. Technology at the time could not detect semen on her dress and the case went cold; in April 2012 Kevin Edison Smith was tried for capital murder, convicted, and sentenced to life.”
- Smith guilty in murder of Krystal Jean Baker
“Chambers County Sheriff's Office evidence officer Sherry Willcox re-submitted DNA evidence to the Texas DPS Crime Lab in February 2009 and again in December 2009; on January 14, 2010, Livonia, Louisiana police arrested Kevin Edison Smith (DOB 09-22-1965) on a drug charge and a sample of his DNA was placed in a national database, and on September 15, 2010 Willcox was informed that Smith's DNA matched the evidence from Krystal Baker's murder.”
- Krystal Jean Baker Act Aids Law Enforcement in More Quickly Connecting Missing Links in Unsolved Cases
“In 1996, Krystal Jean Baker, age 13, was abducted, sexually assaulted and killed; in 2010 her killer was arrested on an unrelated charge in Louisiana, DNA taken during that arrest linked him to Baker's murder, and House Bill 1399, the Krystal Jean Baker Act, authorizes the collection of DNA samples from individuals charged with certain felonies.”
- Texas City police say they've made arrest in murder that happened in 1996
“Smith, 45, of Louisiana, was arrested at a job site in Chambers County where he worked as a welder; his DNA was obtained during a recent Louisiana arrest and matched against Krystal Baker's crime scene sample through a national database, and Captain Brian Goetschius said Smith appeared calm and like he didn't have any idea they were coming to arrest him.”
- Mom: Arrest in 1996 cold case a miracle
“Kevin Edison Smith, 45, of Louisiana was arrested at his refinery job in Groves on a Chambers County murder warrant after a sample of his DNA was taken by Louisiana police following his January arrest on drug charges; Krystal Baker's mother said, 'This is a miracle. This is a miracle from God.'”
- Man convicted in 'Killing Fields' murder of Texas City teen
“It took jurors less than 40 minutes to find Kevin Edison Smith, 46, guilty of capital murder in the 1996 death of Texas City teenager Krystal Jean Baker; Judge Carroll E. Willborn Jr. imposed a sentence of 40 years, the equivalent of a punishment of life without the possibility of parole.”