57 year old Willie Rogers, has been charged in connection to the murder of 75 year old Earnestine Mortimore that occured in 1995. He has been charged with first degree murder, and he is currently serving time for something unrelated.
According to a detective who worked on the case thirty years ago, Willie Rogers, who was then 27, attempted to rob Earnestine.
The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s stated that she had died of strangulation and several injuries due to blunt trauma. And then Earnestine’s case went cold until 2023, 28 years later. Investigators used updated forensic technology, then identified Rogers as the key suspect, the chief said.
The state attorney’s office looked over the findings and decided it was enough to get a grand jury to indict Rogers with a murder charge on January 30, 2025.
John MacVeigh, a detective who worked on the case, stated that it had been “too long” since Earnestine had lost her life.
Investigators had solved the case by using blood samples collected among people in the neighborhood back in 1995, MacVeigh said. Rogers had been one of the people they collected DNA from.
Neighbors had identified him and another man as possible suspects, The Palm Beach Post reported. Both men said they were not involved and were then released. Detectives were not able to get any more evidence, or prove that he was involved. And that’s when the case went cold.
“She didn’t need to go like this,” MacVeigh said. “Everybody in the neighborhood had nothing but good things to say about her. For someone in her neighborhood to do this to her is just horrible.”
City Manager Johnathan E. Evans said police would pursue justice no matter how much time has passed. He then reflected on the suffering Earnestine’s family had faced and apologized for it.
“I can imagine that when you did get that call from us, it showed you that somebody still cared,” Evans stated. “We will stand in that courtroom with you, and we will make sure that justice is served.”
