WACO, Texas (KXXV) — A 30 year-old cold case has been solved, and now a Waco man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing a Waco woman in 1992.
25 News spoke to the victim’s aunt, who earlier this week, came face-to-face for the first time with the man who killed her niece.
Douglas Thomas is sitting behind bars for a crime he committed in 1992.
"That guy had a chance to live his entire life," said the victim's aunt, Belvin Lewis.
Thomas was a truck driver in 1992 when he picked up sex worker Shenda Denise Hayes.
Thomas murdered her and dumped her body at a truck stop in I-30 in Titus County.
"He took her from Waco — he drove her to Texarkana where he sexually assaulted her, and then after being killed — dumped her body," Thomas said.
"There were no clothes on — just a nude body and nothing but a coat hanger around her neck."
Her aunt went 30 years with no answers until she got a phone call in 2022.
DNA had linked Thomas to Hayes' murder.
"I said, 'Are you sure after 30 years? Are you sure?', and they said, 'Most definitely — we have the right one'," Lewis said.
"A Texas Ranger went out and met with him and he gave his DNA not realizing what it would connect him to," said McLennan County Assistant District Attorney, Rebeckah Lawson.
Thomas was sentenced in McLennan County this week after pleading guilty to killing Hayes.
Hayes aunt tried to give her victim impact statement.
"He gave me a bad vibe, he didn’t care what I had to say, and so I let it go — I told him I was done talking to him."
He’s also accused of killing Sherri Herrera in March 1993, who was a California mother of four and a sex worker.
"He was a truck driver for 40 years — There’s a possibility there are more victims and I hope they are solved," Lawson said.
Lewis also says Hayes gave birth before her murder, and wonders where that daughter is now.
She believes she may be living in Waco and has a message for her.
"If anyone knows the whereabouts, the family is here and the door is open — if anyone knows the whereabouts of her, please let us know," Lewis said.
Thomas received 40 years in prison and will be eligible for parole after 10 years.
He is also facing murder charges in California for the Herrera murder, but a trial date hasn’t been set for that yet.
