New DNA Evidence in Exoneration Project Case

DNA links murder and rape of Holly Staker, 11, to second murder 8 years later

More than two decades after 11-year-old Holly Staker was raped and killed in what became one of Lake County's most contentious prosecutions, DNA evidence from her 1992 case has been matched to a potential suspect in a second slaying that took place nearly a decade later, attorneys said Tuesday.

DNA evidence from blood obtained from a two-by-four used to beat Delwin Foxworth in early 2000 — before he was doused with gasoline and set on fire — matches DNA from semen taken from Holly's body, according to the attorneys and court documents.

A lawyer for the man convicted of Foxworth's murder said the evidence shows that his client, Marvin Tyrone Williford, is innocent — as he has long insisted.

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