Sonja Yvette Marion was 13 when she was raped and murdered on July 30, 1979, in northwest Fort Lauderdale near Dillard High School’s athletic field. The crime occurred amid a string of violent attacks on women that had the community on edge.

Investigators quickly focused on Jerry Frank Townsend, a carnival worker described as having the mental capacity of an eight-year-old.

Persistent questioning of the original investigation led to DNA testing in 2000 on semen recovered from Sonja’s shorts. The results exonerated Townsend and matched a different suspect, Eddie Lee Mosley, who was already a person of interest in multiple violent crimes. Mosley was never tried for Sonja’s murder because he was confined in mental health institutions until his death.