In California law, law enforcement agencies can ask the Governor to issue rewards in certain unsolved cases where they have exhausted all investigative leads.
Bakersfield Police say the reward is for four-year-old Jessica Martinez.
“We’re certainly excited that the state has decided to put additional funding towards rewards for the arrest of someone associated with Jessica Martinez’s murder,” Joseph Kinzel, Assistant District Attorney for the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, said.
Tuesday, Governor Newsom’s office announced they’re offering $50,000 in reward money for information leading to an arrest and conviction for the murder of Jessica Martinez.
In 1990, four-year-old Jessica Martinez went missing in Bakersfield while she played in front of her apartment complex on Belle Terrace. Eleven days later, a farmworker found her body in a cotton field, off of Bear Mountain Boulevard, near highway 99.
“When she was kidnapped from her home more than 30 years ago and ultimately found murdered, had been more than a week later-that case has resonated with us,” Kinzel, said. “Her family has kept this going. The police department has kept the investigation going.”
A spokesperson with the Governor’s Office gave Eyewitness News this statement:
“Information from the public is vital to law enforcement in unsolved cases and rewards can encourage people to come forward with tips to help apprehend those who have committed serious offenses.”
Christopher Lightsey, is the only suspect in the case. Lightsey is a convicted sex offender on death row for an unrelated murder conviction. In 1990, Lightsey lived in the same apartment complex as Jessica, and he was questioned by police.
However, forensics did not connect Lightsey to the crime.
Joseph Kinzel, Assistant District Attorney with the Kern County District Attorney’s office, said for some cold cases, one phone call can change everything.
“One thing that we’ve learned over the past few years and even before that, is that their can be advances that we never even thought of that can lead to arrests and convictions on cases decades old,” Kinzel, said.
He said modern technology can help cases that happened long ago like this 32-year-old case.
“We had one case within the past few years, it was a 40-year-old murder case,” Kinzel, said. “A cold case that was solved because of advancements that have happened with DNA technology.”
The Kern County Secret Witness program is also offering a $10,000 reward. That makes the total $60,000.
Anyone with information on the Jessica Martinez case can call the Bakersfield Police Department at (661) 327-7111 or the Kern Secret Witness at (661) 322-4040.
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