UPDATED 11:10 A.M.: Man serving manslaughter sentence linked to 26-year-old MC homicide
Morgan City police say advances in DNA technology linked a 1998 killing to a man already serving a 40-year sentence in a homicide that occurred nearly three months later.
John Willis Pittman, now 44, faces a second-degree murder charge in the October 1998 death of Amber Lynn Jenkins Garcia. Willis is serving a 40-year sentence for manslaughter after pleading guilty in the death of Jennifer Vedol on Christmas Day, 1998.
At a press conference Tuesday, Morgan City Police Chief Chad M. Adams said that while the Garcia case remained unsolved in the years since her body was discovered in a wooded area behind Youngs Park, the case never went away.
The investigation commenced with the Morgan City Police Department Detectives Division when it was determined that her death was the result of a homicide.
“During the course of the investigation, investigators collected multiple sources of evidence to be analyzed by criminal specialists,” the chief said.
“As the investigation continued, information and leads turned cold and investigators were unable to make a determination of who was responsible for Mrs. Garcia's death. ... Over the years, the investigation of Mrs. Garcia was looked at to see if new leads could be developed regarding her death.
“In the beginning of 2024, investigators with the Morgan City Police Department Detectives Division resubmitted evidence collected from the scene of Garcia's death to the Acadiana Criminalistics Lab. Over the years with technology advancement in this field, the results yielded that DNA collected from the scene linked Pittman to the death of Mrs. Garcia.”
Garcia’s body had been discovered on Oct. 8, 1998. Nearly three months later, on Christmas Day, the body of Jennifer Vedol was located in the Duke Street area.
That investigation developed Pittman, who was 18 at the time, as a suspect. Ultimately, Pittman was charged in the death of Vedol and later pleaded guilty in the 16th Judicial Court to manslaughter and was sentenced to 40 years at hard labor. He’s serving that sentence at Elayne Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel.
Pittman remains incarcerated and will be booked on the new charge and will await court proceedings in the 16th Judicial Court in Garcia's death.
Adams and the Morgan City Police Department commended “all our investigators, from the ones that were involved in the original investigation, to the ones that looked at the case over the years since, and to our current investigators who have now completed the task bringing this heinous homicide investigation to a conclusion.
“The work that all these investigators have done has brought Justice to not only Mrs. Garcia, but to the family she had left behind.
“Mrs. Garcia was a daughter and a mother. We pray for the family of Mrs. Garcia and that our lord may place his hands upon them and the Vedol family during this difficult time. As this investigation comes to a close, Chief Adams and investigators with the Morgan City Police Department have been in touch and met with the family of Mrs. Garcia.”
Family members “were excited” at the news that Pittman was identified as a suspect in Garcia's death, Adams told reporters. “They thought the case had gone cold.”
Pittman is not a suspect in any other crimes in the Morgan City area, Adams said Tuesday.