LAPD

Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1991 Rape and Murder

The 22-year-old fashion school student's body was found in a burning car in South Los Angeles.

A man was sentenced on Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1991 rape and murder of a 22-year-old fashion school student whose body was found in a burning car in South Los Angeles.

Ahjeeb Jamal Boyd, 47, was convicted Feb. 1 of first-degree murder and jurors found the special circumstance allegation of rape to be true.

Firefighters responding to the vehicle fire in the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 1991, found Jill Dara Sampson's body after the blaze had been put out. The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be from either thermal burns or suffocation or both, said Deputy District Attorney Gloria Marin, who prosecuted the case.

Sampson was a student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise in downtown Los Angeles. Originally from Colorado, she had been living in Los Angeles for less than a month.

Sampson's body was found in the passenger seat of her torched car, parked in a secluded area of 45th and Flower streets, said LAPD Detective Roger Allen of the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Major Crimes Division.

The body was "charred beyond recognition," but a sexual assault kit still managed to provide genetic material, Allen said during a news conference at the LAPD's downtown headquarters.

That evidence subsequently led to a DNA hit on Boyd, who was serving time in state prison for robbery when arrested in February 2014 for Sampson's murder.

"As to why it occurred, it's unknown," the detective said. "Obviously, the motive was sexual assault."

Allen, who began investigating the cold case six years ago, theorized that one of the many freeway closures in 1991 -- resulting from the construction of carpool lanes -- caused Sampson to detour off the Hollywood (101) Freeway on her return to her apartment from a visit to the South Bay.

Allen said the "difficult part" was trying to guess how the victim and Boyd -- who lived 220 yards from the crime scene -- initially made contact.

"This was a violent encounter,'' he said, adding that Sampson was beaten and raped.

Marin said it took 26 years to bring "finality and closure" to Sampson's family, who declined to speak to reporters.

"Justice was finally achieved for Jill Sampson," Marin said.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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