It took decades for Carla Walker’s killer to finally get caught and put behind bars. “This is a time of healing. It’s funny to say that after almost 50 years, isn’t it?” Jim Walker, Carla’s brother, told NBC 5 in 2021, after the capital murder trial ended. Kim D’Avignon, assista nt district attorney and trial specialist with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, remembers not just sadness in those moments. “But there was a weird, underlying happiness because everyone in that courtroom thought they would never, ever see this day,” D’Avignon said. She said the case was memorable for another reason, too–it was an eye-opener. “We became acutely aware of the number of cold cases pending in our county,” she said. “Fort Worth PD alone has a thousand cases.” A new type of DNA testing at the time, called Forensic Genetic Genealogy, or FGG, had unlocked Walker’s case. Now, the agency is harnessing that technology to help even more families by launching a new Cold Case Task Force. “Help local law enforcement better access those cases, test those cases, and potentially hopefully solve some of those cases,” D’Avignon said. She said right now, 10 investigators from the DA’s office are partnering with local law enforcement to comb through cold case files. “Fresh eyes means fresh leads,” she said. They also need to figure out things like which witnesses may have died or have memory problems, she said. From there, wherever it’s possible to use FGG testing, the DA’s office will fund it. She said it can cost upwards of $20,000 to test a case and right now, that money is coming from the county’s coffers, although they are applying for some grants. Tarrant County used a private lab in The Woodlands, Othram, to test DNA in Walker’s case. But a local institution is one of the few accredited public labs that does FGG testing, among other things. “We are the first in the nation, I would say the first in the world, that was publicly available, able to do this kind of technology,” said Michael Coble, executive director of UNT Health Fort Worth’s Center for Human Identification. Coble said he’s excited to hear about the county’s new task force. “It’s been our passion to try to help put a name to the unknown, to try to help give families an answer,” he said. “And we look forward to having more instances where we can help. Again, bring a name to the unknown.” Coble said they have their own unit that works with law enforcement, helping with 800 cases last year, alone. He said they are funded by the state and different federal agencies. “All of the work that we do for the state of Texas, we’re funded by the state of Texas, so it’s at no cost. And we are offering this forensic genetic genealogy at no cost,” Coble said. He explained that FGG is different than traditional DNA testing because looks at a different type of DNA marker that allows them to identify distant relatives. “The forensic genetic genealogy we’re actually able to go out to distant cousins, second cousins, third cousins,” Coble said. “We have four genealogists who are building those trees, trying to make those associations.” Investigators still have to go out and try to get DNA from those people until they get to the actual offender. D’Avignon called it “an absolute game-changer when it comes to cold cases.” She hopes the task force can also offer education, opening detectives’ eyes to new possibilities. “Look, maybe we don’t have to wait for a case to go 10 years cold. This kind of technology can be used as soon as other leads have dried up in cases. And so, maybe another family doesn’t wait a decade,” she said. New hope for hundreds of families shelved, like Carla Walker’s once was. ...read more read less