Gwinnett man convicted of murder 14 years after girlfriend’s death

READ | Cops: Gwinnett man attacks roommate with machete for waking him up

Reyes and his girlfriend, Sadot Ozuna Carmona, shared a Norcross apartment with six roommates in 2004. On July 31, 2004, there was a party in the apartment. During an argument, Ozuna Carmona smashed a bottle against Reyes’ head, told him to leave the apartment and said the relationship was over, the DA’s office said. The couple frequently argued, a family member testified at trial, and Reyes had threatened to kill her in the past.

Ozuna Carmona threw suitcases at Reyes and told him to leave, but he repeatedly went in and out of the apartment throughout the night, the DA’s office said. Ozuna Carmona went to bed, and the party continued. She was not seen alive after that, but Reyes was seen in the apartment as late as 12:14 a.m. Aug. 1.

Ozuna Carmona’s car was missing the next morning and her bedroom door was locked. The only people with keys to the bedroom and the car were Ozuna Carmona and Reyes. A nephew was able to force the door open and found Ozuna Carmona dead in her bed.

Ozuna Carmona had been repeatedly stabbed in the lip, chest and neck, with a chest wound piercing her heart and fracturing multiple ribs, according to the DA’s office. A 10-inch knife was found under her arm, and she was naked from the waist down. The room was “in disarray,” but nothing significant had been taken, the DA’s office said.

Investigators obtained a warrant for Reyes’ arrest after an autopsy was conducted, but they could not locate Reyes after Ozuna Carmona’s death. A rape kit was also done during the autopsy, and the male DNA recovered from the kit was entered into CODIS, a national DNA database used by law enforcement. DNA from the knife was also entered.

The case went cold until 2016, when Reyes was charged with child cruelty in California. His DNA was taken by police in California as a part of that arrest, and it matched the DNA taken in Ozuna Carmona’s rape kit and that from the knife, the DA’s office said. After police verified Reyes’ identity, he was extradited to Georgia.

During trial, it was revealed that Reyes was in Mexico by 2005, when he married his current wife. Reyes and his wife moved to California in 2006, and his wife testified that he abused her consistently through their marriage.

After being found guilty, Reyes was sentenced to life in prison.

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