A man has been sentenced to life in prison in Denton County for two sexual assaults that occurred in the 1990s, cases that remained unsolved for over two decades until a DNA hit in 2023.
Detectives at the time of the violent sexual assaults in 1993 and 1997 determined the cases were related but exhausted all leads, causing them to go cold. In 2023, a breakthrough occurred when DNA evidence from the cases yielded a match.
Current detectives identified Marcus Deshaun Johnson, who resided in Denton during the time of the assaults, as a person of interest. Investigators learned Johnson was living in Las Vegas and, with assistance from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI, obtained a DNA sample. Lab analysis confirmed that Johnson's DNA could not be excluded as a contributor to the samples collected from the original investigations.
This evidence led to Johnson's indictment in June 2023 on two counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and three counts of Sexual Assault. On Monday, Johnson pleaded guilty to all charges. On Thursday, a Denton County jury sentenced him to life in prison.
The Denton Police Department expressed immense pride in their team's dedication to the survivors and thanked their partner agencies and the Denton County District Attorney’s Office for their crucial roles in bringing this long-awaited justice.
