Dad freed after 5 years when DNA points to ex-Marine

Illinois man freed after DNA from killings points to ex-Marine in Virginia

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 5, 2010

An Illinois man who had been charged with fatally stabbing two young girls was freed Wednesday after DNA evidence linked the slayings to an ex-Marine accused of attacking women in Northern Virginia.

Jerry Hobbs, 39, spent the past five years in jail awaiting trial on capital murder charges in the 2005 slayings of his daughter, Laura, 8, and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, in Zion, Ill. But Lake County prosecutors, who previously said they would seek the death penalty, dropped all charges Wednesday. It was a little more than a month after genetic evidence gathered at the crime scene was matched with a sample that had been entered in the national DNA databank.

The investigation into the girls' killings now is focused on Jorge "George" Torrez, 21, who is charged in Arlington County with two assaults on strangers. Torrez grew up in Zion, where he lived only blocks from the victims' homes. He has not been charged in the slayings, but law enforcement sources said he is the chief suspect.

In February, Arlington police arrested Torrez, an ex-Marine who had been stationed at Fort Myer.
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Illinois man freed after DNA