by | Published
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - An Arizona man has been arrested on a capital murder charge in the 1981 sexual assault and killing of 23-year-old Yolanda Herrera after modern DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy gave investigators a new lead in the case more than four decades later.
Kelly Lee Brower, 68, was arrested Aug. 19 in Cottonwood, Arizona, and is expected to be extradited to Texas for prosecution, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Herrera's nude body was discovered by children in a field near the 500 block of East Aviation Drive on April 13, 1981.
Investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death. She had last been seen several days earlier walking home after leaving a local bar shortly after it closed.
Investigators pursued multiple suspects in the years following the killing, but authorities said each was eventually eliminated. The case remained unsolved for more than 40 years.
A new opportunity emerged in late 2020 when Herrera's case was identified as eligible for testing through DPS' Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a federally funded program aimed at helping law enforcement agencies investigate unresolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides.
Texas Rangers and Universal City police submitted evidence collected during Herrera's original autopsy for advanced DNA testing and genealogy research.
In 2021, BODE Technologies conducted a surname search that generated a new investigative lead. The laboratory also extracted a small amount of DNA from evidence in the case, but authorities said there was not enough genetic material at the time to conduct genealogy testing.
Technology continued to advance.
In 2025, Othram Laboratories conducted additional analysis of the DNA sample and used forensic investigative genetic genealogy to identify a possible suspect.
DPS said the testing and subsequent investigation ultimately led authorities to Brower.
Investigators traveled to Arizona and interviewed Brower multiple times. According to DPS, Brower confessed to killing Herrera during those interviews.
Brower was subsequently arrested in Cottonwood and faces a capital murder charge in Texas.
The Texas Rangers worked with the Universal City Police Department, Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office, Cottonwood Police Department, Maricopa County Attorney's Office Sexual Assault Kit Initiative program, BODE Technologies, Othram Laboratories, Bexar County Crime Laboratory and DPS Crime Laboratory Division on the investigation.
