Southfield — Deborah Kennedy struggled with a knife-wielding attacker 29 years ago, scratching him as she tried to fend off multiple stabbings that proved fatal — a desperate battle for life that left DNA under the victim’s fingernails and led investigators to her alleged killer, Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said Tuesday.
The suspect, 58-year-old Robert Covington, was arrested March 29 in Royal Lakes, Illinois, extradited to Michigan and charged with felony murder and open murder. If convicted, the defendant faces life in prison.
Covington, who did not have an attorney listed in online court records, is scheduled for an April 23 probable cause conference before 46th District Court Judge Cynthia Arvant. He was denied bond during his April 9 arraignment and remanded to the Oakland County Jail.
On Feb. 20, 1997, Southfield police officers were conducting a welfare check on Kennedy at the behest of a coworker when they found the 40-year-old victim dead inside her home in the 24000 block of Lee Baker Drive, where she lived alone, Barren said. Kennedy had been killed a day earlier, the chief said.
Kennedy, an employee of the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, did not show up for work, prompting the welfare check, Barren said.
Officers entered Kennedy’s house and found the victim had been killed “as a result of multiple stab wounds,” Barren said. “There were no signs of forced entry; however, evidence indicated that Mrs. Kennedy fought with her attacker during that fatal encounter. This detail would later prove to be critically important.
“Despite the extensive investigative efforts in 1997, the case remained unsolved for 29 years,” Barren said.
Why the Southfield Police reopened the cold case in 2024
The case was reopened in June 2024 by Southfield Detective Brian Weeks, who asked the chief if he could investigate cold cases. Barren said he told the detective to look for cases involving DNA, “which have a higher probability of being solved.”
Reggie Daniel, the victim’s cousin, initially asked the Southfield Police Department to reopen the murder case, Barren said.
“Deborah didn’t deserve what came her way, and the trauma of that event, and the fact that there was never anyone apprehended over the years, it just kept nagging me,” Daniel said. “And, so I just felt that after seeing all the various crime shows on TV, and learning about the evolution in technology …, that perhaps advances in technology could possibly lead to a resolution.
“So, I approached the Southfield Police Department about it, and Chief Barren and Detective Weeks took the bull by the horns, and they ran with it,” Daniel said. “They assured me that they’d try to find out did this, and sure enough, they did it.”
Weeks pored over the Kennedy case file and submitted two pieces of evidence to be retested: a credit card recovered from the crime scene and fingernail clippings taken from the victim, “which appeared to contain skin from her attacker,” Barren said.
While the two items were analyzed in 1997, nothing of note was found, Barren said.
“But with advancements in DNA and fingerprint technology, our investigators were hopeful that these items would now yield results,” Barren said.
What led investigators to the 1997 murder suspect
Weeks, the department’s chief detective, said modern technology allows smaller samples to be tested for DNA, while fingerprints can be more easily identified, which led police to the suspect.
“The evidence supports the conclusion that Mrs. Kennedy fought her attacker, and in doing so captured the suspect’s DNA under her fingernails,” Barren said.
At the time of the killing, Covington is thought to have lived across the street from the victim, Barren said. No motive for the killing has been determined, the chief said.
Covington’s DNA was in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database because he’d been arrested multiple times before and after Kennedy’s killing, Barren said.
How the suspect reacted to being arrested
During Tuesday’s press briefing, body-worn camera footage was played showing Covington’s arrest by police in Royal Lakes, Illinois. The officers told the suspect he had a traffic warrant, although Barren said that wasn’t true.
Weeks said Covington became nervous when he got back to the police station and saw detectives waiting to interview him.
“I think at that point, he knew this was more than (a traffic infraction),” the detective said.
The suspect stopped talking when confronted about the DNA match, Barren said.
“He was asked if he’d ever been inside Mrs. Kennedy’s home, and he said he hadn’t,” the chief said. “But when he was asked how his DNA ended up inside the home, he got quiet.”
Weeks choked up when discussing the case.
“I believe that all these victims’ families deserve justice, and sometimes you don’t have the resources and funding, but there are people waiting for days like today, and I think that’s important. It’s very moving … very important to me, and very important to the family.”
ghunter@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2134
@GeorgeHunter_DN
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Southfield cold case murder solved due to victim’s fight, police say
Reporting by George Hunter, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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