Man in prison charged in 1999 North Charleston death

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A man serving a life prison sentence has been arrested and charged with killing a woman in North Charleston in 1999.

Multiple media outlets reported that police used DNA evidence to charge 51-year-old Anthony Andrew Heyward with murder in the death of 44-year-old Edwina Shelton.

Shelton's body was found behind a vacant house. She was last seen the night before her body was found as she left a relative's house. Her body was found clothed only in a shirt, and there was evidence she had been sexually assaulted, police said.

Police spokesman Spencer Pryor says officers submitted DNA evidence to the State Law Enforcement Division at the time of the crime but got no match. A detective resubmitted the sample last year, knowing the database was larger now, and the evidence pointed to Heyward.

Heyward has been in prison since 2001 and is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct. It was not clear if he has an attorney yet.

Shelton's daughter, Nyetta Chapman, 40, said neither she nor the police department ever gave up.

"They said back then that it wouldn't be a cold case forever and they stayed true to their word," Chapman said.